Vaccinations after a transplant

Vaccinations after a kidney transplant 
We recommend you have the following vaccinations:  
 
  • seasonal flu vaccine every year 
  • pneumococcal vaccine every five years 
  • COVID vaccine according to national guidance 
  • non-live Shingles vaccine if you are over 70 years old. You can only have the non-live vaccine, called Shingrix®. 
Your GP can give you all of these vaccines 
 
You must NOT have live vaccines. These include: 
 
  • BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccine 
  • live shingles vaccine 
  • live chickenpox (varicella zoster) vaccine  
  • nasal spray flu vaccine  
  • rotavirus vaccine  
  • oral typhoid vaccine, taken as capsules  
  • oral polio vaccine  
  • yellow fever vaccine  
  • MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine 
Make sure any vaccine is safe by telling your travel clinic, GP, transplant clinic or pharmacist about your transplant medications.

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  • Last updated
  • Author Lucy Trevallion