revaccination
noun
re·vac·ci·na·tion
(ˌ)rē-ˌvak-sə-ˈnā-shən 
plural revaccinations
: the act of administering a vaccine again some period after an initial vaccination especially to strengthen or renew the immune response
The first vaccination is given after a cat is 16 weeks old. Thereafter, annual revaccination with a single dose is necessary for effective immunity.—
Cat Fancy
Cat FancyRevaccination produces protective antibody titers in only 18 to 25 percent of individuals who failed to respond to the initial immunization with hepatitis B vaccine.—Scientific American Medicine Bulletin
Scientific American Medicine Bulletin
revaccinate
transitive verb
revaccinated; revaccinating
Make sure all dogs are vaccinated, and revaccinated if the immunization is more than two years old.
—New England Farmer
New England Farmer
Therefore, if a cat's rabies vaccination expires anytime before April 1, 2017, the pet must be revaccinated prior to a 2016 cat license tag being issued.
—NorthJersey.com
NorthJersey.com
Examples of revaccination in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Because changing the breed would invalidate the certificate and require revaccination, shelters typically only update breed information when necessary.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
There is no fact better established in medical science than that persistent revaccination will practically exterminate smallpox.
—Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2021
There will be an annual revaccination.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2021
At the time, Massachusetts was one of eleven states that allowed officials to enforce mandatory immunizations; a resurgent outbreak had led the local health board to order vaccination or revaccination of the city’s inhabitants.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2020
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Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
There is no fact better established in medical science than that persistent revaccination will practically exterminate smallpox.
—Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2021
There will be an annual revaccination.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2021
At the time, Massachusetts was one of eleven states that allowed officials to enforce mandatory immunizations; a resurgent outbreak had led the local health board to order vaccination or revaccination of the city’s inhabitants.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Revaccination.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revaccination. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
revaccination
noun
re·vac·ci·na·tion
ˈrē-ˌvak-sə-ˈnā-shən
: vaccination administered some period after an initial vaccination especially to strengthen or renew immunity
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