Vaccines Medicare Covers for Free

Did you know that Medicare fully covers a number of vaccines for its beneficiaries? Well, they do. All adult vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are covered with no out-of-pocket costs. Your Medicare drug plan won’t charge you a copayment or apply a deductible for vaccines you get including: shingles, whooping cough and tetanus.

This list of free vaccines is updated every year, so just because it is on the list this year, doesn’t mean it will be on the list next year. If you are traveling outside of the country, you may want to consult the CDC’s list of recommended vaccinations depending on your destination. The CDC suggests that you make sure you are up to date with all of your routine vaccines as “the majority of measles cases imported into the United States occur in unvaccinated U.S. residents who become infected during international travel.” You can see which countries in the world have reported measles outbreaks.

Routine vaccinations available without any out-of-pocket costs

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Vaccine	Covered dosage	Age covered- 65 and over
COVID-19	2 or more doses of 2024-2025 vaccine	Row 0 – Cell 2
Influenza	1 dose annually	Row 1 – Cell 2
Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap or Td)	1 dose Tdap, then Td or Tdap every 10 years thereafter.	Row 2 – Cell 2
Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)	1 dose	For adults with no evidence of immunity to measles, mumps, or rubella:
Chickenpox- Varicella (VAR)	2 doses	For adults who do not have evidence of immunity.
Shingles- Zoster recombinant (RZV)	2 doses	Row 5 – Cell 2
Vaccine	Covered dosage	Age covered- 75 and over
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)	Unvaccinated: 1 dose. Previously vaccinated: additional doses not recommended.	Row 7 – Cell 2

Covered vaccines that are given when necessary