FAQ: About the COVID-19 vaccine
When I get the vaccine, will I be immune from COVID-19?
We don’t yet know the full extent of immunity the vaccine confers. Clinical trials have shown that all of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing symptomatic illness — particularly severe illness that would require hospitalization — but that’s all we know. While vaccinated individuals are less likely to develop symptoms of the illness, we do not yet know if the vaccine prevents asymptomatic infection or if it will prevent you from transmitting COVID-19 to others.
March 16, 2021
Is the vaccine effective?
Yes. All currently approved vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Read more: What’s the best COVID-19 vaccine?
March 16, 2021
What are the side effects?
The most common side effects are pain, redness, and tenderness at the injection site. Other side effects may include fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, chills, nausea and vomiting, and fever. In extremely rare cases, people have experienced severe allergic reactions. Everyone who gets a vaccine is monitored for allergic reactions for at least 15 minutes afterwards. This is the same procedure we follow when an individual gets their first-ever flu vaccine. Before you get the vaccine, let the clinician know if you have any serious allergies.
January 6, 2021
I’m nervous about this new vaccine and the unknown risks. Shouldn’t I just wait six months or more to get it?
It’s not worth waiting. We strongly encourage you to get your vaccine as soon as it is offered to you. The technology behind this vaccine, mRNA, was developed at MIT, has earned the Nobel prize, and is well understood and established. The vaccine is safe and effective and a critical tool that can help us end the COVID-19 pandemic. The sooner we are all vaccinated, the sooner we will return to normal life. If you have concerns about the vaccine, discuss them with your healthcare provider.
January 6, 2021
Does getting the vaccine mean we can stop wearing masks and will no longer need to socially distance?
Not in public settings. Even if you are fully vaccinated, you will need to continue taking precautions when you are in public settings where the vaccination status of others is unknown. You will need to wear a mask, stay six feet from others when you are outside your home, and wash your hands regularly. And if you work or study on campus, you will need to continue regular COVID-19 testing.
While clinical trials showed COVID-19 vaccines to be very effective in preventing symptomatic illness, we do not yet know the full extent of immunity a vaccine confers. We only know that the COVID-19 vaccine makes it less likely that you will develop symptoms of the disease if you are exposed. We do not know if it prevents asymptomatic infection, and we do not yet know if the vaccine will prevent you from transmitting COVID-19 to others.
However, vaccinated people can drop precautions when gathering in small groups with each other. They can also gather, unmasked, with unvaccinated people from one other household as long as none of those people, or members of their house, are at high risk for complications from COVID-19. Read more: What can I do once I’m vaccinated (And why?)
March 16, 2021
