What are the recommendations for use of Tdap in children and adults age 7 and older?

The most current ACIP recommendations for Tdap can be accessed here at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6903a5-H.pdf.

A listing of the recommendations follows:

• Tdap can be given regardless of the interval since the last Td was given. There is NO need to wait 2–5 years to administer Tdap following a dose of Td.
• Adolescents should receive a single dose of Tdap (instead of Td) at the 11–12-year-old visit.
• Adolescents and adults who have not received a dose of Tdap, or for whom vaccine status is unknown, should receive a single dose of Tdap as soon as feasible. As stated above, Tdap can be administered regardless of interval since the previous Td dose.
• Children age 7–10 years who are not fully immunized against pertussis (i.e., did not complete a series of pertussis-containing vaccine before their seventh birthday) should receive a single dose of Tdap. If needed, they should complete their series with Td or Tdap. If a Tdap dose is administered at age 10 years or older, the Tdap dose may count as the adolescent Tdap dose.
• All healthcare personnel, regardless of age, should receive a single dose of Tdap as soon as feasible if they have not previously received Tdap and regardless of the time since the last dose of Td.
• Pregnant teens and adults should receive Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably between 27- and 36-weeks’ gestation. Mothers who have never received Tdap and who do not receive it during pregnancy should receive it immediately postpartum.
• Tdap may be administered in any situations where Td only was previously recommended.
• After receiving an initial dose of Tdap, either Tdap or Td can be used to fulfill the decennial (every 10 years) Td booster dose recommendation.