Society guideline links: COVID-19 – General guidelines for vaccination

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Vaccinations for specific patient populations are provided separately, along with links to other COVID-19-related guidelines. (See "Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Index of guideline topics", section on 'Society guideline topics by medical specialty'.)

General guidance

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Good practice statement on the use of second booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines (2022)

•WHO: COVID-19 vaccine checklist (2021)

•WHO: Diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccine readiness, and other health products for COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2021)

•WHO: Injection safety in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination (2021)

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Canadian Immunization Guide – COVID-19 vaccine (2023)

●United States

•Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): COVID-19 vaccine recommendations

•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Use of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States – Interim clinical considerations (2024)

•National Institutes of Health (NIH): COVID-19 treatment guidelines – Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection (2023)

●Europe

•European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Overview of the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination strategies and deployment plans in the EU/EEA (2023)

•ECDC: Public health considerations and evidence to support decisions on the implementation of a second mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster dose (2022)

•ECDC: Interim guidance on the benefits of full vaccination against COVID-19 for transmission and implications for non-pharmaceutical interventions (2021)

•ECDC: Interim public health considerations for the provision of additional COVID-19 vaccine doses (2021)

•ECDC: Rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the EU/EEA – Challenges and good practice (2021)

•ECDC: COVID-19 vaccination and prioritization strategies in the EU/EEA (2020)

•ECDC: Key aspects of introduction and prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccination in the EU/EEA and the UK (2020)

●United Kingdom

•National Health Service (NHS) England: COVID-19 vaccination programme – Guidance for hospital hubs

•NHS England: COVID-19 vaccination programme – Guidance for vaccination centres

•NHS England: COVID-19 vaccination programme – Primary care guidance

•UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA): The Green Book – Guidance on COVID-19 (2020, updated 2023)

•Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI): Advice on priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination (2020)

●Australia

•New South Wales (NSW) Health: COVID-19 vaccination – Information for NSW health immunisation providers (2023)

●Japan

•[In Japanese] Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases (JAID): Recommendations for COVID-19 vaccine (2023)

•[In Japanese] Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW): Guidance on immunization practices related to the new coronavirus infection, 14th edition (2023)

•[In Japanese] National Institute for Infectious Diseases (NIID): About the new corona vaccine (2021)

Vaccine-specific guidance

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Interim recommendations for the use of the Janssen Ad26.COV2.S (COVID-19) vaccine (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the Valneva VLA2001 vaccine against COVID-19 (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the Bharat Biotech BBV152 COVAXIN vaccine against COVID-19 (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the ChAdOx1-S [recombinant] vaccine against COVID-19 (AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222 Vaxzevria, SII COVISHIELD) (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine BIBP developed by China National Biotec Group (‎CNBG)‎, Sinopharm (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine against COVID-19 (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the Novavax NVX-CoV2373 vaccine against COVID-19 (2022)

•WHO: Interim recommendations for use of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, under Emergency Use Listing (2022)

•WHO: Technical note on delayed shipments for theChAdOx1-S [recombinant] vaccines – What are the implications for the administration of second doses? (2021)

●Canada

•National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI): An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS) – Interim guidance on the use of bivalent Omicron-containing COVID-19 vaccines for primary series (2023)

●United States

•Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): COVID-19 vaccine recommendations

Specific populations

●International

•North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG): Position statement on COVID-19 vaccines and gynecologic concerns in adolescent and young adults (2021)

●United States

•Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): COVID-19 vaccine recommendations

-ACIP: Recommendations on use of updated COVID-19 vaccines 2023-2024 formula for persons aged ≥6 months – United States, September (2023)

•American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): COVID-19 vaccines in children and adolescents (2022)

•American College of Rheumatology (ACR): COVID-19 vaccine clinical guidance for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) (2022)

●Europe

•European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Interim public health considerations for COVID-19 vaccination of adolescents in the EU/EEA (2021)

•ECDC: Interim public health considerations for COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 5-11 years (2021)

●Japan

•[In Japanese] National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID): New corona vaccine that can be vaccinated in Japan – 12 years old and over (2023)

Adverse effects

Allergic reactions

●International

•World Allergy Organization (WAO): Statement on COVID-19 vaccine-associated anaphylaxis (2021)

●United States

•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Interim considerations – Preparing for the potential management of anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination (2022)

•American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI): Guidance on emergency department laboratory evaluation of allergic reactions to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (2021)

•ACAAI: Guidance on risk of allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines (2021)

•CDC: Lab tests to collect shortly after severe allergic reaction/anaphylaxis following COVID-19 vaccination (2021)

•ACAAI: Guidance on risk of allergic reactions to Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (2020)

●Europe

•European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI): Statement on the diagnosis, management and prevention of severe allergic reactions to COVID‐19 vaccines (2021)

•Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)-European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI): Statement on severe allergic reactions to COVID‐19 vaccines – A position paper (2020)

●United Kingdom

•Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK): Anaphylaxis guidance for vaccination settings (2020, updated 2021)

Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT)

●International

•International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH): Recommendations for the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of VITT against COVID-19 (2021)

•United Nations (UN): Guidelines – Diagnosis and management of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following adenovirus vectored COVID-19 vaccinations (2021)

●Canada

•Thrombosis Canada: Vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) (2021)

●United States

•American Society of Hematology (ASH): Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (2022)

•American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA): Diagnosis and management of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (2021)

●United Kingdom

•National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): COVID-19 rapid guideline – Vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) (2021, updated 2022)

•Association of British Neurologists (ABN): When to suspect cerebral venous sinus thrombosis following vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (2021)

•British Society of Haematology (BSH): Guidance on COVID-19 vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) (2021)

●Australia–New Zealand

•Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) and Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ): Joint statement on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and the use of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca (2021)

•THANZ: Advisory statement for haematologists on suspected vaccine induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) (2021)

•THANZ: Multidisciplinary VITT guideline for doctors (2021)

Other adverse effects

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Reporting ocular adverse events following COVID‐19 vaccination – Communiqué to healthcare professionals (2022)

●United States

•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Clinical considerations – Myocarditis and pericarditis after receipt of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines among adolescents and young adults (2023)

Resources for patients — The following links provide resources about COVID-19 for non-clinicians. These resources come from select society and government-sponsored guidelines from several countries and regions around the world.

●[International] World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – Vaccines safety

●[Canada] Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Vaccines for COVID-19

●[United States] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Vaccines for COVID-19

●[Europe] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Questions and answers on COVID-19 – Vaccines

●[United Kingdom] National Health Service (NHS): Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination

●[Australia–New Zealand] Australian Government Department of Health (DOH): COVID-19 vaccines

●[Australia–New Zealand] New South Wales (NSW) Health: COVID-19 and flu vaccination in NSW

UpToDate also offers "The Basics" patient education pieces, which are written by the doctors and editors at UpToDate. These are written in plain language, at the 5^th to 6^th grade reading level, and answer the main questions a person is likely to have. (See "Patient education: COVID-19 overview (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and children (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and pregnancy (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 vaccines (The Basics)".)