HIV Treatment

HIV and Vaccination

Last Reviewed: December 12, 2025

Key Points

  • Although there are no vaccines to prevent or treat HIV, people with HIV may benefit from getting vaccines against other infections like hepatitis B and influenza.
  • Vaccine recommendations can vary for all people, including people with HIV, based on age, past vaccinations, pregnancy, and other health factors.

 

What are vaccines?

Vaccines protect people from diseases, such as influenza (flu), measles, and polio. Vaccines are given by needle injection (a shot), mouth (pill or solution), or nasal spray. The process of getting a vaccine is called vaccination.

When a person gets a vaccine, the body's immune system produces an immune response that protects the body against the disease. In this way, the immune system learns to defend the body if the person is later exposed to the disease.

Some vaccines, like the measles or polio vaccines, are nearly 100 percent effective in preventing disease. Others, like the COVID-19 or flu vaccines, reduce the severity of illness if the disease occurs.

Vaccines not only protect individuals from disease; they protect communities as well. When most people in a community are immunized against a disease, there is little chance of widespread infection or a disease outbreak.

Is there a vaccine against HIV?

Scientists have been researching HIV vaccines for nearly 40 years. Most of the HIV vaccine trials have been early-stage trials in which scientists look at whether the vaccine is safe and produces an immune response to HIV after vaccination.

Very few HIV vaccine trials have advanced to late-stage testing, where scientists determine whether the vaccine effectively stops HIV infection. So far, no HIV vaccines have proven consistently effective, and none have been approved for use outside of clinical trials.

Scientists are investigating new technologies to design vaccines that could prevent or treat HIV. For more information about experimental HIV vaccines, read the HIVinfo What is a Preventive HIV Vaccine? and What is a Therapeutic HIV Vaccine? fact sheets.

Although there are no vaccines to prevent or treat HIV, people with HIV can often benefit from vaccines against other diseases.

Which vaccines should people with HIV get?

People with HIV should speak with their health care provider to decide which vaccines are right for them. Children and adolescents with HIV should also follow vaccination guidance from a health care provider.

The recommended vaccines can vary depending on a person’s age, vaccine history, overall health, pregnancy status, and some HIV-related risk factors. According to the CDC, vaccines are available in the United States for the following infections—

  • COVID-19
  • Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
  • Hepatitis A
  • Hepatitis B
  • Herpes zoster (also called shingles)
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV)
  • Influenza (also called flu)
  • Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)
  • Meningococcal disease
  • Monkeypox (previously called mpox)
  • Pneumococcal disease
  • Polio
  • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
  • Rotavirus
  • Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis
  • Varicella (also called chickenpox)

Because HIV affects the immune system, vaccination is an important part of staying healthy. A health care provider can help determine which vaccines to receive and when.

The HIV Clinical Practice Guidelines at Clinicalinfo.HIV.gov provide vaccine recommendations for people with HIV. Separate guidance is available for children and adolescents and for adults and adolescents.

Are vaccines safe for people with HIV?

Most vaccines are safe and effective for people with HIV. Although some people may experience side effects from vaccines, these are generally minor and go away on their own in a few days. For example, some people experience soreness at the injection site or a mild fever. Severe reactions to vaccines are rare.

Some vaccines, such as the live attenuated vaccines, are not recommended for people with HIV because they can prompt a strong immune response and potentially cause infection. Inactivated vaccines are considered generally safe and acceptable for people with HIV.

Before getting a vaccine, talk to your health care provider about the benefits of the vaccine and possible side effects.

Do people with HIV need special vaccines before traveling?

Regardless of destination, all travelers should be up to date on routine vaccinations based on their health care provider’s recommendations. People who plan to travel outside the United States may need to be vaccinated against diseases that are present in other parts of the world:

  • Cholera: Africa, the Americas, South and Southeast Asia
  • Polio: Afghanistan, Pakistan
  • Typhoid: Africa, Asia (especially South Asia), Latin America
  • Yellow Fever: sub-Saharan Africa, tropical South America

If you have HIV, talk to your health care provider about any vaccines you may need before you travel outside the United States.

To prepare for your trip, read information from the CDC on Travelers with Weakened Immune Systems and the HIVinfo Traveling Safely With HIV fact sheet.

This fact sheet is based on information from the following sources:

From HIV Clinical Practice Guidelines at Clinicalinfo.HIV.gov:

From CDC:

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

Also see the HIV Source collection of HIV links and resources.