PCV13 No Longer Recommended for All Seniors

By Kelly Young

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Not all seniors need to receive the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), the CDC now says. However, they should still receive a single dose of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23). The recommendations are published in MMWR.

In 2014, PCV13 was recommended for all seniors in series with PPSV23. Between 2000 and 2014, during the time pneumococcal vaccination was introduced in children, PCV13-type invasive disease among seniors declined ninefold. However, since 2014, when seniors began routinely receiving the vaccine, there have been no further declines.

Now, clinicians and patients should engage in shared decision-making to determine whether to administer PCV13. Certain groups are at higher risk, including people residing in long-term care facilities or in areas with low childhood PCV13 uptake. If clinicians and patients decide that PCV13 is appropriate, it should be given at least a year before PPSV23.

Seniors with an immunocompromising condition, cerebrospinal fluid leak, or cochlear implant should continue to receive PCV13.