Although the pneumonia vaccine can’t prevent all cases, it can lower your chances of catching the disease. And if you’ve had the shot and you get pneumonia anyway, you will probably have a much milder case.
Older adults and some people with health problems are more likely to get pneumonia, a lung infection that makes it harder to breathe. It’s more common among people whose immune systems are weak.
Who Should Get the Vaccine?
People over age 65. As you age, your immune system doesn’t work as well as it once did. You’re more likely to have trouble fighting off a pneumonia infection. All adults over age 65 should get the vaccine.
Those with weakened immune systems. Many diseases can cause your immune system to weaken, so it’s less able to fight off bugs like pneumonia.
If you have heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, asthma, or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), you’re more likely to have a weakened immune system, which makes you more likely to get pneumonia.
The same goes for people who receive chemotherapy, people who have had organ transplants, and people with HIV or AIDS.
People who smoke. If you’ve smoked for a long time, you could have damage to the small hairs that line the insides of your lungs and help filter out germs. When they’re damaged, they aren’t as good at stopping those bad germs.
Heavy drinkers. If you drink too much alcohol, you may have a weakened immune system. Your white blood cells (which fight infection) don’t work as well as they do for people with a healthy immune system.
People getting over surgery or a severe illness. If you were in the hospital ICU (intensive care unit) and needed help breathing with a ventilator, you’re at risk of getting pneumonia. The same is true if you’ve just had major surgery or if you’re healing from a serious injury. When your immune system is weak because of illness or injury or because it’s helping you get better from surgery, you can’t fight off germs as well as you normally can.
Who Shouldn’t Get It?
Not everybody needs to get a pneumonia vaccine. If you’re a healthy adult between ages 18 and 50, you can probably skip the vaccine. Also, you shouldn’t get it if you’re allergic to what’s in the vaccine. Not sure? Ask your doctor.
When to Get the Vaccine
Unlike flu season, there’s no such thing as pneumonia season. If you and your doctor decide that you need to have a pneumonia vaccine, you can get it at any time of the year. If it’s flu season, you can even get a pneumonia vaccine at the same time that you get a flu vaccine, as long as you receive each shot in a different arm.
How It Works
There are two types of vaccines for pneumonia that protect against different types of the infection:
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). This type includes PCV15 (Vaxneuvance), PCV20 (Prevnar 20), and PCV21 (Capvaxive). The number in the name tells you how many types of bacteria the vaccine protects you against.
Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23). Pneumovax23 protects you against 23 types of pneumonia bacteria.
Children under 5 years old, adults over the age of 65, and other children and adults who are at risk for pneumonia should get a PCV vaccine. Doctors may give children with certain conditions who are between 2 and 18 years old the PPSV23 vaccine. If you're an adult who took PCV15, you'll also get the PPSV23 vaccine. You may get this vaccine, too, if you had an earlier vaccine called PCV13. Talk to you doctor to figure out which option is best for you.
What Are the Risks?
You cannot get pneumonia from the vaccine. The shots only contain an extract of the pneumonia bacteria, not the actual bacteria that cause the illness.
But some people have mild side effects from the vaccine, including:
- Swelling, soreness, or redness where you got the shot
- Mild fever
- Fussiness or irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Sore muscles
Fewer than 1% of people who get the pneumonia vaccine have these types of side effects. Allergic reactions are even rarer.
