Why Should I Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

What you need to know

• Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can lower your risk of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Vaccines can also help prevent serious illness and death.
• All steps have been taken to ensure that vaccines are safe and effective for people ages 5 years and older.
• If you already had COVID-19, you should still get a COVID-19 vaccine for added protection.
• When you are up to date on COVID-19 vaccination, you can resume many activities with proper precautions (e.g., mask wearing in indoor public spaces).

COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children and adults

While COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly, all steps have been taken to ensure their safety and effectiveness.

A growing body of evidence shows that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks. CDC recommends an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) in most circumstances based on an updated risk-benefit analysis.

Before recommending COVID-19 vaccines, including for children ages 5 years and older, scientists conducted clinical trials with thousands of adults and children and found no serious safety concerns. Learn more about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for children and teens.

COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to build protection

Getting a COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccination helps protect you by creating an antibody response without you having to experience sickness.

Getting sick with COVID-19 can have serious consequences.

• Getting sick with COVID-19 can cause severe illness or death, even in children, and we can't reliably predict who will have mild or severe illness.
• You may have long-term health issues after COVID-19 infection. Even people who do not have symptoms when they are initially infected can have these ongoing health problems.
• People who are sick with COVID-19 may spread COVID-19 to others, including friends and family who are not eligible for vaccination and people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccines are effective

COVID 19-vaccines are effective and can lower your risk of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines also help prevent serious illness and death in children and adults, even if they do get COVID-19.

Viruses are constantly changing, including the virus that causes COVID-19. These changes occur over time and can lead to the emergence of variants that may have new characteristics. Vaccines continue to reduce a person's risk of contracting the virus that cause COVID-19. Vaccines are highly effective against severe illness.

COVID-19 vaccination is a more reliable way to build protection

The level of protection people get from having COVID-19 (sometimes called natural immunity) may vary depending on how mild or severe their illness was, the time since their infection, and their age; and there is still not an antibody test available that can reliably determine if a person is protected from further infection.

All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID-19. Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccination gives most people a high level of protection against COVID-19.

You should get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if you already had COVID-19. Emerging evidence shows that getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 illness provides added protection to your immune system.

Once Up to Date on COVID-19 Vaccination, You Can Start Doing More

When you are up to date on COVID-19 vaccination, you can resume many activities with proper precautions (e.g., wearing a mask while indoors in public spaces).

Additional Resources

• OHA: Have Questions About COVID-19 Vaccines
• CDC: Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
• CDC: FAQ about COVID-19 Vaccinations

• Lets Talk COVID-19 Vaccines: Tool to help people have healthy and safe conversations about the COVID-19 vaccines