Updated COVID vaccines are now available across the United States. The CDC recommends that everybody ages 6 months and over should get the updated Covid vaccine to protect against serious Covid disease outcomes.1
For children ages 6 months to 4 years of age, multiple Covid vaccine doses are needed, including one dose of the updated Covid vaccine, in order to be up to date.1
For those 5 years and older, a single dose of the updated Covid vaccine is needed to protect against serious consequences from Covid like illness, hospitalization, and death.
Individuals who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of the updated Covid vaccine two or more months after getting the last updated Covid vaccine.1 This may help to strengthen the immune response against Covid. People who are interested in getting an additional vaccine dose should talk with their healthcare provider about this option.
Why do some people get the Covid vaccine and still get Covid?
The Covid virus constantly changes, plus our immunity against Covid naturally decreases over time. Getting the updated Covid vaccine continues to be important, especially for older people and those with chronic medical conditions.
People who have recently recovered from Covid sometimes wonder if they still need to get a Covid vaccine since they have had Covid already. The answer is yes–getting the Covid vaccine after recovering from Covid provides added protection against getting future Covid infections.1 Since a natural infection will provide some immunity for a short while, you may consider delaying your Covid vaccine by 3 months. However, for people who are at risk for severe disease, who have loved ones or close contacts at risk for severe disease, or if there is a lot of Covid circulating in your community, you may want to consider getting the vaccine sooner than later.1
Covid vaccines were developed to decrease severity of symptoms, hospitalization, and death, and based on over 3 years of experience with the vaccines now, they work very well for this purpose.2 They also help to reduce the risk of getting Long Covid. Compared to people who are up to date with their Covid vaccinations, unvaccinated people are more likely to get Covid and much more likely to be hospitalized with or die from Covid.2
Vaccine Development
Covid vaccines have undergone the most intense vaccine safety monitoring in U.S. history. While Covid vaccines were developed rapidly to respond to the Covid pandemic, all steps were taken to ensure vaccine safety and effectiveness. All vaccines must go through a number of steps for approval, including vaccine development, clinical trials that systematically evaluate vaccine safety and efficacy, approval or authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and approval of the recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and CDC.3Once vaccines become available for public use, numerous monitoring systems continue to monitor vaccine safety.3
Are there vaccine side effects?
Adults and children could possibly have brief side effects from a Covid vaccine, including pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, and nausea. These side effects are typically mild to moderate and resolve after a few days.4 Serious side effects are rare but have included swelling of the lymph nodes after vaccination (lymphadenopathy), severe allergic reaction, and inflammation of the heart and its surrounding tissue (myocarditis, pericarditis). It is important to consider all the evidence, and especially that the protection the Covid vaccine provides greatly outweighs the risk of rare vaccine side effects.4
Paying for the vaccination
Covid vaccines are covered by health insurance plans, and there are more locations available to get vaccinated, including your healthcare provider, local pharmacies, public health departments, and federally qualified health centers.5
For individuals who do not have health insurance, you can get free Covid vaccination through the federal Covid Bridge Access Program.5 To find Covid vaccine locations (including locations that provide free vaccines through the Covid Bridge Access Program) or to schedule a vaccine appointment, go to https://www.vaccines.gov. If you do not have internet access, you can call 1-800-232-0233 to get Covid vaccine information.
References
- CDC webpage. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Viral Diseases. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html#Children; Information Accessed December 21, 2023.
- CDC webpage. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Viral Diseases. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html; Accessed December 21, 2023.
- CDC webpage. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Viral Diseases. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/basics/test-approve.html; Accessed December 21, 2023.
- CDC webpage. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Viral Diseases. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html; Accessed December 21, 2023.
- Vaccines.gov website, available at https://www.vaccines.gov.
Authors
Author: Dr. Kathleen Cartmell, PhD, MPH, Associate Research Professor, Clemson University, Department of Public Health Sciences
Co-Author: Rhonda Matthews, M.Ed., Rural Health and Nutrition Program Team Leader
