Pharmacists who provide pneumonia vaccines should take note: the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recently changed the recommended interval between administration of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), marketed as Prevar, followed by the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23), marketed as Pneumovax. The recommended interval, which was 6 to 12 months, has been changed to 1 year or more for immunocompetent adults aged 65 and older. That brings the recommendation in line with that for the PPSV23–PCV13 sequence in the same age group. All other recommendations remain unchanged.
Published September 9, 2015
