People with COVID-19 should wait to be vaccinated until they have recovered from their illness and have met the criteria for discontinuing isolation, even if they were asymptomatic. You may consider delaying your booster vaccine by 3 months from when your symptoms started or, if you had no symptoms, when you received a positive test. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection against COVID-19. People who already had COVID-19 and do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get vaccinated after their recovery.

The CDC recommends people 5 and older receive an age-appropriate, updated mRNA booster dose if at least 2 months have passed since their primary series or since their most recent booster dose. Updated boosters of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna contain a bivalent formula that both boosts immunity against the original coronavirus strain and also protects against the newer Omicron variants that now cause most cases. Updated boosters are expected to provide better protection against the virus and address waning vaccine effectiveness over time.

See additional recommendations for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. The recommended vaccination schedule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is available here.