Vaccines are the best way to protect yourself from preventable diseases. Avoiding preventable diseases is the simplest way to save money and reduce your health costs. That and saving you from a lot pain and potentially dying too soon.

 Paying for vaccines should not be a problem for most people. All Health Insurance Marketplace and most private plans cover many vaccinations at no cost.

One barrier that slows many people down is navigating when to take which vaccine, how many boosters if any they'll need, and exactly why. Usually there's a chronological sequence. The CDC has visual tools to help parents navigate vaccination timing for birth to 15 months and 18 months to 18 years. 

There is also information specifically for adults starting with 19 to 26 years old. The number and frequency of vaccinations and boosters is lower and includes Tdap, Flu, plus HPV if they aren’t vaccinated yet. Also, there are State mandates to protect children in schools and college. After age 50, the vaccinations shift to include shingles and pneumonia along with Tdap, Flu, and hepatitis B vaccines. At all ages adults with health conditions may require additional vaccines. 

 

There are also non-chronological reasons for people to confirm, update, and possibly add vaccinations. For example, vaccine protection for international travel. Others like health workers need protection because of where they work. Vaccines are appropriate for pregnancy, to protect both mother and child. Providing vaccinations for immigrants protects them, and the rest of us too. Of course, still others are used to combat a pandemic.

 

The CDC also has a simple questionnaire for adults that factors in age, situation, plans, and health conditions, then generates a list of vaccines you get if you haven’t already.