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Getting the COVID-19 vaccine significantly decreases your chances of developing severe illness or dying from COVID-19. Although there continues to be growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination may prevent you or your loved ones from getting COVID-19, it’s still important to practice the 3 W’s—wash your hands, wear a mask, watch your distance—so that you can protect yourself and others in the community!

The CDC’s VaccineFinder website can help you find locations offering vaccines near you so that you can schedule an appointment. Most clinics and pharmacies which offer COVID-19 vaccines have a phased plan with the ages they currently service listed on their website. You can check these websites for updated information on eligibility and appointment availability.

If you or someone you know has an underlying health condition it is still possible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, as long as there has been no immediate or severe allergic reaction. You should always consult with your primary provider if you have any concerns or hesitations due to a pre-existing health condition.

Nothing. It is free, even if you do not have insurance. However, if you do have insurance, you can bring it with you to your vaccination appointment and the clinic can charge your insurance. This will have no effect on your premium whatsoever.

Yes. It is possible to become reinfected after you have recovered from a previous COVID-19 infection. It’s also important to keep practicing the 3 W’s—washing your hands, wearing a mask, and watching your distance—even if you’ve already had COVID-19. You can’t always know the vaccine status of those around you and keeping our loved ones and communities safe is important!

At this time, it is unknown how long the antibodies your body produced in response to COVID-19 can last. It is also unknown if antibodies for COVID-19 will give you lasting immunity. What we do know is that antibodies do not last forever. This is why it is important to use the tools we have, like vaccines, to teach our bodies how to keep making those important antibodies to fight COVID-19. Practicing the 3 W’s—washing your hands, wearing a mask, and watching your distance—as well as getting a COVID-19 vaccine are all things you can do to protect your communities!

All currently available COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective; the CDC does not recommend one vaccine over another. The available COVID-19 vaccines use mRNA and viral vector technologies that have been studied for decades, to help our bodies develop immunity against severe future COVID-19 infections.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson and Johnson vaccine requires one dose. For the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, plan to return for your second dose 21 days after receiving the first dose. For the Moderna vaccine, plan to return for your second dose 28 days after receiving the first dose. The Pfizer-BioNTech is the only vaccine currently available for those 5 and older. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are available for those 18 and older. For all three vaccines, you are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after your final shot. None of the vaccines make you sick with COVID-19 or change your DNA.

Common side effects that have been reported after receiving COVID-19 vaccines include:

• pain, swelling, or redness at the injection site.
• headache.
• tiredness.
• muscle.
• chills or fever.
• nausea.

Side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines are not unusual and signal that the body is building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. These symptoms tend to resolve within a few days. Call your provider if any side effects do not go away. You can also report any side effects to:

• CDC at 1-800-822-7967.
• FDA/CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) at 1-800-822-7967.
• Pfizer Inc. at 1-800-438-1985 for side effects from the Pfizer vaccine.
• ModernaTX, Inc. at 1-866-MODERNA (1-866-663-3762) for side effects from the Moderna vaccine.
• Janssen Biotech, Inc. at 1-800-565-4008 for side effects from the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

While more serious side effects have been reported among adults, these are generally considered rare and it is currently not known if they were caused by the vaccine. Side effects observed in youth who received the vaccine were similar to side effects observed in adult participants.

If you have other questions or concerns, it’s always good to check with your provider. You can also visit:

• CDC’s website for information about COVID-19 vaccines and their possible side effects.
• FDA’s website for information about COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine regulations, and Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs).
• Pfizer’s website or call them at 1-877-829-2619.
• Moderna’s website.

VAERS’ website. For the first line of box #18 of the report form, include “[Pfizer/Moderna/Janssen] COVID-19 Vaccine EUA.”

To date, the CDC does not know how long protection lasts for those who are fully vaccinated. But getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and your community from becoming infected with COVID-19 and getting very sick.

Yes. All of the vaccines which are currently available in the U.S. underwent clinical trials where both CDC and FDA closely monitored the results. They have declared that each vaccine is safe and that the benefits of receiving the vaccines continue to outweigh the risk of rare but severe side effects like blood clotting, which you may have heard about in the news.

No. None of the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. contain the live virus. You may experience side effects from the vaccine, but this is not because you are sick with COVID-19. Side effects may occur because the vaccine teaches your body how to recognize and fight the virus, and symptoms from the vaccine are signs that the body is building protection against the virus.

No. The CDC recommends that people with COVID-19 should wait until they’ve recovered and have been authorized to discontinue isolation. This guidance also applies to people who get sick with COVID-19 before getting their second dose of the vaccine.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are issued in a series of two shots. For Pfizer, you will return 21 days after your first shot for the second one. For Moderna, you will return 28 days later.

The only vaccine currently available in the U.S. as a single shot is the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The first shot of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines does not give you full protection. You can only get full protection if you receive both shots. However, it’s okay to be a little nervous or afraid of getting a second vaccine shot, especially if you have heard about different side effects in the media or from those around you. Know that most cases of side effects resolve in a few days and that you are not alone in these concerns.

New variants of a virus are expected. Viruses constantly change through mutation. To date, FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines help protect against Delta and other known variants. Scientists are monitoring how effective vaccines are against new variants that may arise and adjusting to create new medicines if needed. This FAQ will be updated with the latest findings about vaccine effectiveness on emerging COVID variants. We can do our part in slowing the development and spread of new variants by getting vaccinated and practicing the 3 W’s—washing your hands, wearing a mask, watching your distance.

No vaccine is 100% effective at preventing infection. Breakthrough infections are expected. This means that, as the number of fully vaccinated people goes up, the number of breakthrough infections will also increase. But fully vaccinated people who experience a breakthrough case are less likely to develop serious illness than those who are unvaccinated and get COVID-19. Fully vaccinated people with breakthrough cases are much less likely to be hospitalized or die than people who are not vaccinated. Even if you become fully vaccinated and get a breakthrough infection, your chances at survival will be much higher than if you were unvaccinated and got COVID-19.

Based on available data, scientists have determined that a booster shot will be needed to maintain protection over time. The vaccines are working well to prevent severe illness and hospitalization as a result of COVID-19, but a booster shot will help give us increased protection from new variants of the virus and prevent our immune response from weakening over time. Many other vaccines (including the flu vaccine, HPV vaccine, and Tdap vaccine) also need a booster shot in order to help maintain protection.

Booster shots of the Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccines are now available under Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA for eligible individuals. The FDA also authorized “mix and match” booster shots. This means you may choose to receive the same vaccine type that you originally received, or one of the other currently available booster shots.

If you received your second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months ago AND:

• Are 65 years of age and older, OR
• Are 18-64 years of age and at high risk of severe COVID-19 (ex: reside in a long-term care facility, have underlying medical conditions), OR
• Are 18-64 years of age and live or work in a high-risk setting (ex: healthcare worker, education staff, first responders, public transit workers, etc.),

You are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot.

If you received the J&J/Janssen vaccine at least 2 months ago AND:

• Are 18 years of age and older,

You are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot.

You should speak with your provider if you have any questions or concerns about whether or not you are eligible.

The chances of getting a blood clot as a result of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is very, very low. However, women younger than 50 years old should especially be aware of the rare but increased risk of blood clots.

Please monitor yourself for possible symptoms of a blood clot, with low platelets, for three weeks after receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Possible symptoms to look for can include:

• Severe or persistent headaches or blurred vision
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Leg swelling
• Persistent abdominal pain
• Easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin of the injection site

If you develop one or more of these symptoms, you should seek medical care right away.

It’s okay to feel a little nervous about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because of the pause in April 2021. Both CDC and FDA have recommended that use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine resume as all data shows that known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks. However, women younger than 50 years old should especially be aware of the rare but increased risk of blood clots, and that other COVID-19 vaccines in which this risk hasn’t been observed are available.

Pausing use of the vaccine allowed CDC to communicate with healthcare providers about the potential risks of the vaccine and emphasize how important it is to report any severe events. It also gave healthcare providers the opportunity to make sure that they were prepared to treat people in the event of a severe side effect such as a blood clot.

No. There is no link between vaccines and sterilization or infertility. The vaccine material never enters the part of the cell where DNA is stored, so it cannot alter your DNA or genetic material. In fact, doctors even recommend pregnant people to take certain vaccines before and during pregnancy to protect both them and their unborn children from viruses! You may have heard of doctors recommending people who plan to become pregnant to get the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine at least one month before pregnancy, while CDC recommends that every pregnant person get the Tdap vaccine (which protects against three potentially life-threatening bacterial diseases: tetanus; diphtheria; and pertussis, or whooping cough) during every pregnancy.

If you are fully vaccinated (which means two weeks after receiving both shots of either Pfizer or Moderna, or receiving one shot of Johnson and Johnson), then you can start doing a lot of things which you previously had to stop doing before the pandemic. However, vaccinated people should continue wearing a mask indoors in public if they are in an area of substantial to high transmission. This is to maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent spreading it to others. Fully vaccinated people should also wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings where there are high numbers of COVID-19 cases. In general, it’s best to exercise caution and mask up in public spaces even after receiving the vaccine because it’s hard to know the vaccination status of people around you. For more information on what you can and can’t do after being fully vaccinated, check out this CDC handy guide.

According to the CDC, it is safe for two to three fully vaccinated households to gather indoors without masks. However, if one or more of the households are not vaccinated, it is best to be careful and practice the 3 W’s—wash your hands, wear a mask, and watch your distance—gathering outdoors if the get together must take place.

Each county in the U.S. is in a different phase of re-opening. It’s best to check your county’s phase of re-opening before deciding to eat out at a restaurant. Being fully vaccinated does allow you to start returning to normal daily activities, but since you can’t always know the vaccination status of those around you, it’s best to continue practicing the 3 W’s when possible—washing your hands, wearing a mask, and watching your distance.

Each county in the U.S. has a different rate of COVID-19 transmission, infection, and vaccination. It’s best to check the status of the county you’re thinking of travelling to before going there so that you can make the best decision for you and whoever you are travelling with. Wearing a mask is required on most public planes, buses, trains, ferries, and other forms of transportation, as well as transportation hubs such as airports or train stations.

Herd immunity means that enough people in the community are immune to a disease that its spread is unlikely. For example, if enough people are vaccinated against a disease, it is unlikely that those who are not vaccinated will catch the disease because no one around them has it. Herd immunity is a way of protecting an entire community, including those who are unable to receive a vaccine because of their age or underlying conditions. The CDC website refers to herd immunity as “population immunity,” and it is essentially the same thing. The CDC is still working to learn how many people must be vaccinated against COVID-19 before the population can be considered protected (population immunity).