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Best Practices for Patient Care

Recommendations for the 2024-2025 Respiratory Virus Season

Key points

  • As a healthcare provider, you play an important role in ensuring your patients have the best protection against COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
  • Patients should receive all their recommended vaccines and receive timely testing and treatment.
  • Use the updated information and resources below to help your patients stay safe this fall and winter respiratory virus season.

Immunization recommendations

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Use this guide to determine which fall and winter respiratory virus immunizations a patient needs.
Use this guide to determine which fall and winter respiratory virus immunizations a patient needs.

COVID-19 and influenza

Everyone 6 months of age and older should receive the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine and seasonal influenza vaccine.

RSV

Infants and pregnant people

All infants should be protected against severe RSV disease through one of the following (only one is indicated in most instances):

  • Vaccination (Pfizer Abrysvo only) of pregnant people 32 through 36 weeks of gestation administered during September through January for most of the continental United States.
  • Immunization of infants less than 8 months with nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody administered during October through March (earlier is better) in most of the continental United States.

Children

Some children aged 8 through 19 months at increased risk for severe RSV disease should receive nirsevimab when entering their second RSV season.

Older adults

Everyone 75 years of age and older should receive RSV vaccination if they haven't been previously vaccinated.

Adults 60 through 74 years of age with certain medical conditions or other risk factors that increase their risk for severe RSV disease should receive RSV vaccination if they haven't been previously vaccinated.

Clinical guidance

Best practices for immunizations

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This graphic explains when people should get COVID-19, flu, and RSV immunizations.
Give COVID-19 vaccines any time of the year. Ideally, give flu vaccines in early fall. The ideal timing for RSV immunization varies for older adults, pregnant people, and infants.

Detailed CDC guidance

Coadministration of these vaccines

Flu, COVID-19, and RSV vaccines may be co-administered (given at the same visit). They may also be co-administered with other vaccines, in accordance with CDC's general best practices for immunization.

If the provider is confident there will be additional opportunities to vaccinate the patient, and the patient prefers to receive these vaccines during different visits, there is no minimum wait period between these vaccinations.

Keep Reading: General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization

Preventing vaccine administration errors

A vaccine administration error is any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm. Take preventive actions to avoid vaccine administration errors and establish an environment that values reporting and investigating errors as part of risk management and quality improvement.

Testing and treatment

Testing

Treatment

Assess whether the patient has risk factors that place them at higher risk for severe flu and COVID-19 and should therefore receive prescription antiviral medications if they become ill.

Resources

Vaccine summaries for fall and winter virus season‎

CDC now offers product information on immunizing against the common causes of respiratory illness (flu, COVID-19, and RSV) in one location.
Get product information

Professional education for the 2024-2025 season

Preparing your practice and patients

Educating staff will help prepare your practice for the fall and winter virus season and build trust between you and your patients.

Use the following resources in your office or electronic health record system to remind patients about upcoming immunizations.

Webinars for the 2024-2025 season

CDC regularly produces educational videos and webinars to provide healthcare providers with timely and actionable information on disease activity, new clinical guidance, and immunization recommendations.

Learn more about additional CDC webinars and continuing education opportunities related to immunization.

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Content Source:
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)