Essential Vaccines for Women Over 40: What You Must Know

Vaccines can be a hot topic, but once we hit our 40s, there are a few that can make a real difference in protecting our long-term health. You’ve heard about flu shots and COVID boosters, but what about shingles, pneumonia, or even HPV after 40?

In this episode of The Grown-Ass Woman’s Guide, host Jackie MacDougall talks with Dr. Kudzai Dombo, a board-certified OB/GYN and menopause expert, and physician at Alloy Women's Health, about which vaccines matter most for women in midlife and beyond.

You’ll learn:

• Which vaccines women over 40 should consider and when to get them

• What you need to know about shingles, pneumonia, and HPV

• How to tell which vaccines are essential and which are optional

• How to check your immunity with bloodwork before getting vaccinated

• What to consider based on travel, health history, and lifestyle

Whether you’re navigating perimenopause, protecting your immune system, or just want to understand what’s really necessary at this stage of life, this episode breaks it all down in clear, practical terms.

Download our FREE Grown-Ass Woman's Health Cheat Sheet

It includes a full list of vaccines, screenings, and labs every woman over 40 should know about.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
-buttoncanbe ahothot-button-Asstopic,buthitour40s,therearesomeimportantonesweatleast need
to knowabout.Sure,you'veheardabouttheflushotsandCovidboosters,butwhat aboutshingles,pneumonia,orevenHPVafter40?Inthisepisode,
we'rebreakingdownwhichvaccinesmatter,whentogetthem,andwhat questionstoask

(00:21):
beforeyourollupyoursleeve.Welcome backtothe GrownAssWoman'sguide.I'mJackie
McDougall.TodayI'mjoinedonceagainbyDr.Kudzai Dambo,
I'm Jackie MacDougall. TodayI'm expert with again by Dr. Kudzai
Dombo, a board-certifiedOB/GYN and menopause expert with

(00:41):
over 20 years of experiencededicated to women's health. Today,aquick
we'llbreakdownwhichvaccinesarerecommendedat different
stages of life, what'sessential, what's optional, and how
to decide what's right foryou. Before we get into it, a quickabout,disclaimer.Vaccines
mayormaynotbe for you. That'scool. Do

(01:04):
So I look at what are some ofthe easy ones to get out of the way
for women who are 40 and over,because as we get older, there are
other ones that come intoplay. So when I think of women who
are in their 40s, we usuallysay the yearly influenza vaccine.
So it's a flu shot.Tdap,It'smeantto bespecifictothe
strains that are particular tothat particular flu season. Right.

(01:26):
So the reason why it'srecommended yearly is because it's
very specific to the strains.There's another vaccine called the
Tdap,diphtheriawhichistetanus,diphtheriaandpertussis. Andthat'sgood.Every
10 years, we're really lookingat, I mean, if you get scraped on
a rusty nail, if you have somekind of injury, it's really important

(01:48):
to have the coverage fortetanus and then diptidotheriaandpertussis.
Pertussis is another conditionthat we look at the numbers of people
who have pertussis,-19.andespeciallywhenitcomes to protection
against babies, just having itevery 10 years is what the guidelines
recommend. And then we look atCOVID-19. It's really up to the whattheirrecommendationsare.They'rechanging,Ithink,dailyand

(02:10):
monthlynow.Soitjustatthispoint,youknow,Ithinkalot oftheorganizations
havelefthowoftenyougetaboosteruptothewhat the
CDCrecommendationssay.Andthenvaccine; whattheCDCrecommendationssay.Andthenshingles,wesay
at age 50, and that's avaccine; that's two doses,they'reandit'stwoto

(02:32):
six months apart.we'rereallylookingatprotectingwomenatthisstageagainstpneumonia.Andthenwe'realsolookingat,IthinkwehadtalkedabouttheHPVvaccine,whichisroutineuntilage 26.
Ifyouhaven'thaditupuntilthen,wereally say upuntilage45
iswhenwe'rerecommendingit.
Recently there was an exposureof measles and I don't have any idea

(02:57):
when I had a measles vaccine.So are there some that we've had
as young people, childreneven, that we should consider getting
another dose of or anythinglike that?
So when it comes to the MMR,which is the measles, mumps and rubella,
what tends to happen is, and Iknow, at least for those of us in
the healthcare system who areexposed,blood,frontlinewhen, youknow,theybringin

(03:20):
sick patients, sometimes whenwe get privileged at different hospitals,
they're looking at our titers.So what they do is they draw our
blood,ifyouareandthey to seeif you areasking stillimmune. Andifshowsthatwe'reimmune,thenwedonotneedit.SoIthinkit'sreally,itmaybe

(03:41):
worth,especiallywiththemeaslesoutbreaksthathave been
the measles outbreaks thathave been happening, asking"Hey,
IcheckforimmunitysothatI"Hey,measles,youknow, check for immunity
so that I can know whether ornot I need measles, mumps, and rubella
revaccination?"really,revaccination.But

(04:02):
And so would that just beadded to the blood work that you're
having done anyway, asking forthe titer?
Yep, absolutely.ThereareOrifyouhavetheantibodies, youknow,stillcirculatingbecause
they say for you to be immune,your antibodies have to be within
a certain range. Okay, yeah,very cool. There are two others,earlier:andsomeget

earlier (04:21):
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A is travelhistoryandriskfactors.Right.Soifyouknowyou'regoingtobe
travelingtocertaincountrieswheretheremaybeahigherincidenceofHep Abecauseofreduced,you
know,cleanlinessorwatersupply.That'ssomethingto consider,butagain,it'sreally

(04:42):
basedonyourtravelhistoryaswellasanyriskfactorsyoumay have.
AndthenhepatitisBisusuallyrecommendedforallpeople agedbetween19
and 59.H
-partwraps up this episode andthis four-part series with Dr. Kudzai
Dambo.WeSheet.coveredscreenings,labs,hormones,supplements,and now
vaccines. To make it simple,I've pulled everything we talked

(05:03):
about into one Grown AssWoman's Health Cheat sheet. It's
your quick reference for whatto ask, when to check, and how to
show up for yourarelisteningorwatching.I-assfyouknowanothergrownasswomanwhocouldusethis,pleasesendherthisepisode.Itmightbeexactlywhatshe needs
rightnow. use this, pleasesend her this episode. It might be

(05:26):
exactly what she needs rightnow. I'm Jackie MacDougall