Vaccines give you protection from common illnesses. Not all older adults opt for all the recommended vaccines. Yet vaccines can protect your health, with some unexpected extra benefits.
Vaccines can help people of all ages prevent serious illnesses caused by common viruses and bacteria. As we age, our immune defenses can weaken. Chronic health conditions like diabetes or heart disease can also make us more susceptible to illness. Or they can cause more serious illnesses once an infection strikes. This makes keeping up with vaccines especially important for older adults.
Examples of illnesses that can hit older adults particularly hard are:
- Shingles, which causes a painful rash and nerve symptoms
- RSV, a respiratory virus that can lead to serious symptoms in older adults
- Pneumonia, which can lead to hospitalization and loss of life in older adults
- Flu, which sometimes leads to complications
- COVID, as older adults are one of the groups with the most severe symptoms
In some cases, a vaccine may not fully prevent an illness, but it may lessen the symptoms. For example, with the COVID vaccine, “If you do get COVID-19, vaccines can make the illness shorter and less severe,” says the CDC.
What is a Vaccine?
Explains the Age Well quick guide on vaccinations, “A vaccine is a biological preparation that gives you a simple, safe, and effective way to protect against harmful diseases. A vaccine triggers the body to produce immunity (protection) against a disease. Most vaccines are given by an injection. Some are given once; others may need to be repeated on a timetable.”
If you are an older adult, “vaccines are the best way to protect yourself from certain preventable diseases,” explains the CDC. A vaccine “uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger,” says the World Health Organization.
Vaccines: More Benefits
Recent research suggests that even beyond preventing certain infectious diseases, vaccinations may give you extra health benefits.
For example, getting the shingles vaccine can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, researchers report. The shingles vaccine may also help prevent dementia. Explains Harvard Health, “A study of more than 300,000 adults found that among those 70 and older, dementia was less common among those who had received shingles vaccination than among those who did not.”
Researchers have also found that the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccination is linked to a lower risk of dementia. There is some evidence that the flu (influenza) vaccine may reduce this risk, too, says Harvard Health, but more research is needed.
Are Vaccines Safe?
Popular media can lead to hesitancy about vaccines. However, “Vaccines are the result of years of research and testing. Most health care professionals consider them to be very safe,” explains Yale Medicine. Vaccines can prevent unnecessary suffering, they add.
A survey from AARP found that fewer than half of all older adults get all of the vaccines recommended to them. The most common reasons for not getting all recommended vaccines were:
- Concern about side effects
- Not sure the vaccine is effective
- Believing the vaccine is not necessary due to good health
Side effects from vaccinations are common. However, says Yale Medicine, “Severe side effects from vaccines are rare, and mild ones, such as soreness or redness at the site of a vaccination, go away in a few days.” The tradeoff is long-term protection from serious illnesses that vaccines can prevent, they note.
To get approved, vaccines have to be proven effective. And if you are in good health now, the truth is that getting recommended vaccinations could be a way to ensure you continue to enjoy good health in the future.
Vaccination Tips
You can learn more about vaccines recommended for older adults in the Age Well quick guide on vaccinations.
Be sure to talk through vaccinations with your healthcare provider and raise any questions you may have. There could be certain vaccinations that may not be recommended for you at a particular time. Your healthcare provider can advise you.
Keeping a record of vaccinations is important so you know what you’ve had and what you need. Certain vaccinations require boosters, so having a record helps set up the timing. Your vaccination record will be in your medical record. If you change providers, be sure to carry over this record.
How do you pay for vaccinations? Medicare and many other insurance plans pay for routine vaccinations.
In all, sticking with a vaccination plan is a great investment in your health and well-being for years to come.