Safety is a priority

Update on COVID and Importance of Getting Vaccinated

Omicron is spreading rapidly. The U.S has a total of 57.7M cases and is averaging 500k new cases every day. Currently, there are 831K total deaths caused by COVID-19 in the U.S. It is important to get vaccinated and/or boosted to protect against COVID-19 and the variants. Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant and emerging variants.

COVID-19 Vaccine Safety

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorizations (US) for two COVID-19 vaccines that are safe and effective, as determined the manufacturer's data and the results of major clinical trials. These data demonstrate that this vaccine’s known and potential benefits are greater than the known and potential harms of becoming infected and having the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19

We understand that some people may feel concerned about getting vaccinated, now that COVID-19 vaccines are available in the United States. While more COVID-19 vaccines are being developed as rapidly as possible, routine processes and procedures remain in place to ensure the safety of any vaccine that receives authorization or approval for use. Safety is the top priority, and there are many reasons to get vaccinated.

Vaccination against COVID-19 will help prevent you from contracting the disease

• All of the COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States today are shown to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19. Learn more about the different COVID-19 vaccines.
• All COVID-19 vaccines in development are undergoing comprehensive clinical trials and will be licensed or approved only if they can substantially reduce your chance of getting COVID-19. Learn more about how our federal partners ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are effective.
• Based on what we know about vaccines for other diseases and early data from clinical trials, experts believe that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 could keep you from getting seriously ill even if you catch COVID-19.
• Getting vaccinated can also protect those around you, especially those at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.
• Experts continue to carry out studies to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 vaccine on the severity of the disease in COVID-19 cases, as well as its ability to prevent people from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to help build protection

• COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications, and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. And if you get sick, you could spread the disease to friends, family, and others around you.
• All vaccines’ clinical trials must first show they are safe and effective before any vaccine can be authorized or approved for use, including COVID-19 vaccines. The known and potential benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine must outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine for use under what is known as an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
• Getting COVID-19 may offer some natural protection, known as immunity. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after the initial infection. However, experts don’t know for sure how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness.
• Both natural immunity and immunity produced by a vaccine are important parts of COVID-19 disease that experts are trying to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.

COVID-19 vaccination will be an important tool to help stop the pandemic

• Wearing masks and social distancing help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, but these measures are not enough. Vaccines will work with your immune system so it will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed.
• The combination of getting vaccinated and following CDC’s recommendations to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19.
• Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available. As experts learn more about how COVID-19 vaccination may help reduce the spread of the disease in communities, CDC will continue to update the recommendations to protect communities using the latest science.