Schedule COVID-19 Vaccine | Walgreens (2024)

FAQs

What are the odds of getting long COVID with the vaccine? ›

19, 2021), the gap widened: 7.76 out of 100 unvaccinated people but only 3.5 out of 100 vaccinated people acquired long Covid. “Vaccines very clearly work, but also clearly, they don't totally wipe it out,” the study's senior author, Ziyad Al-Aly, said in an interview.

People 5 years and older may get one dose of the updated vaccine at least two months after the last dose of any previous COVID vaccine. Babies and young children usually need more doses than older children and teens.

Pfizer: Is There a “Best” mRNA Vaccine? Both of the mRNA vaccines available in the US are highly effective against severe COVID-19, but recent studies suggest that Moderna's elicits a stronger immune response and might be better at preventing breakthrough infections.

CDC recommends the 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines—Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax—to protect against serious illness from COVID-19. Everyone aged 5 years and older ‡ should get 1 dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against serious illness from COVID-19.

For example, says Mallory Shillinger, D.O., a Piedmont primary care physician, vaccinated people often have “a fever for one or two days, along with fatigue, a sore throat and dry cough that can last three to five days. Also, a loss of taste and smell that can linger for two to three weeks.”

Adverse vaccine effects and injuries can range from mild (for example, soreness at the injection site, mild cold, or flu symptoms) to severe (for example, severe shoulder injuries, blood clots, myocarditis) or even fatal.

No matter which type of shot you get, your body breaks down the ingredients or they're destroyed by your immune system within a few days. This means vaccines can't cause long-lasting health effects.

Once you have had COVID-19, your immune system responds in several ways. This immune response can protect you against reinfection for several months, but this protection decreases over time. People with weakened immune systems who get an infection may have a limited immune response or none at all.

You can consider a dose every 6 months after speaking with your healthcare provider. 5 – 17 years with severe immunocompromise, you can consider a further dose every 12 months after speaking with your healthcare provider.

A booster shot with the Moderna vaccine offered older people better protection against COVID-19 if they had previously taken Pfizer jabs, researchers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) have found.

What is the newest COVID booster? ›

In March of 2023, Pfizer bivalent booster doses were expanded for use in California for those 6 months+ who received three monovalent doses. In April of 2023, Moderna and Pfizer bivalent doses were authorized to be used for all doses for everyone 6 months and older.

Public health has also made it clear that it is safe to mix and match Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for booster shots.

COVID-19 Vaccine Safety — What We Know

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are strongly recommended as safe and effective at preventing serious illness or death from COVID-19.

Symptoms of Long COVID may include: Fatigue, feeling tired. Weakness. Brain fog (problems concentrating or thinking)

The most common symptoms were exercise intolerance reported by 170 (71%) participants, excessive fatigue by 167 (69%), numbness by 153 (63%), brain fog by 151 (63%), neuropathy by 151 (63%), insomnia by 148 (61%), palpitations by 145 (60%), myalgia by 132 (55%), tinnitus or humming in ears by 131 (54%), headache by 128 ...

However, research shows that repeat infections increase the risk of long COVID and could increase the severity of some long COVID symptoms in older adults.

Unsurprisingly, the rate of long COVID was the highest among those with the original strain, Al-Aly said, with 10.4% of those who had infections that developed into long COVID. That declined to 9.5% among those in the unvaccinated groups during the delta era and 7.7% during omicron.