IM Injection Adult
IM Injection Adult
IM Injection Adult
To ensure vaccines are safe and effective, it’s important to prepare and administer them correctly:
Follow aseptic technique. Perform hand hygiene before vaccine preparation, between
Use a new needle and syringe for each injection. patients, when changing gloves (if worn), and any time hands
become soiled.‡
‡Gloves are not required unless the person administering the vaccine is likely to come in contact with potentially infectious body fluids or has open lesions on
the hands. If worn, perform hand hygiene and change gloves between patients.
Scapula
2. Identify the injection site.
Recommended site: Deltoid muscle in the upper arm Acromion Injection
process site
Use anatomical landmarks to determine the injection site. The deltoid muscle is a
large, rounded, triangular shape. Find the acromion process, which is the bony point Deltoid
at the end of the shoulder. The injection site will be approximately 2 inches below the muscle
bone and above the axillary fold/armpit.
Humerus
3. Administer the vaccine correctly.
Inject the vaccine into the middle and thickest part of the muscle. Insert the needle at Axillary
a 90-degree angle and inject all of the vaccine in the muscle tissue. fold/
armpit
If administering more than one vaccine in the same arm, separate the injection sites
by 1 inch if possible.
U.S. D
For additional information, go to CDC's
Heal
vaccine administration resource library at Cente
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/resource-library.html. Contr
11/16/20