As of April 9, all Missouri residents are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Refer to the list above to make your appointment. 

On April 23, a CDC panel recommended that the pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine be lifted. The panel also recommended that a warning label be added to the vaccine packaging noting the very rare blood clotting disorder risk. Based on the panel’s recommendation, the FDA ended the pause; states and local jurisdictions can now resume use of the J&J vaccine. The CDC and FDA will provide monitoring and treatment information to health care providers and vaccine recipients.

If you received the Johnson & Johnson shot and have not developed any of the side effects associated with the blood clotting disorder (severe headache or abdominal pain, shortness of breath, neurological symptoms, leg swelling) within three weeks of being vaccinated, the risk of an adverse reaction is unlikely. If you have questions or concerns, consult your doctor.

For most people, getting the first available COVID vaccine is the best thing you can do to safeguard your health. Your odds of contracting a possibly life-threatening case of COVID-19 are much higher than your odds of serious side effects from the vaccine. The risk of blood clots from COVID illness is 165,000 per million cases.

More than 90% of the vaccine supply in the United States is either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. However, for some settings the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be the one that is available. And some people prefer the option of a single-dose vaccine.

If you have additional questions about which vaccine is best for you, check with your doctor.

The identification of what is approximately a less than 2-in-a-million risk associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a sign that the nation’s safety monitoring system for COVID vaccines is working. After any vaccine is successful in clinical trials and approved for use, the FDA continues to monitor it for safety. The pause in the use of the J&J vaccine allowed scientists to evaluate each incidence of the clotting disorder. They determined that the level of risk was very low and that the benefits of continued use of the J&J vaccine greatly outweighed any risk associated with it.

Yes. Vaccines have to pass extensive trials and meet rigorous safety and effectiveness standards before they are widely distributed. Both COVID-19 vaccines were studied in tens of thousands of people, the study results were reviewed by independent advisory committees, and these committees then gave advice on who should receive the vaccine. Finally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed all of this information to determine if the benefits outweigh the risks, and gave authorization for the vaccines to be used. 

Although the COVID-19 vaccines were developed in record time, that’s because the global scientific community has focused their efforts on combating COVID-19, not because they’ve cut any corners. Researchers were also able to use existing science and technology, which made it possible to develop vaccines faster than any methods previously used.

Vaccines teach your body’s immune system how to fight an invader, generally by introducing something that helps the body recognize the virus in the future. When your body responds to the vaccine, it learns how to fight that illness so that the next time you encounter it, your body is prepared to fight it off without making you terribly sick.

In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, the first two authorized vaccines draw on decades of research and results with mRNA (messenger RNA) technology.You’ve seen lots of images of the coronavirus, with those characteristic spikes. These vaccines use mRNA to teach your body to recognize those spikes and to fight off the virus.

As with most vaccines, you may experience some mild side effects after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. You might not feel great the next day — or even a few days — and may have soreness in your arm, a mild fever, chills, tiredness, headache, and nausea or diarrhea. It may feel like you have the flu, and it may disrupt some of your normal daily activities. None of that is fun, but these side effects are normal signs that the vaccine is working. Neither of the COVID-19 vaccines have been found to have any severe side effects.

Because we don’t know yet how long natural immunity lasts after recovering from COVID-19, you should plan to get vaccinated.

The vaccines’ clinical trials show that the vaccines are safe for people with all kinds of conditions, including those who are immuno-compromised, have heart conditions, diabetes, cancer, and many others. In fact, because these put you at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, it is particularly important that you get vaccinated. Talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner if you have questions about whether you should get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Though the mRNA technology used in the vaccine is known to be safe and effective for people who are pregnant or lactating, none of the COVID-19 vaccine trials included people in those groups. If you are pregnant or lactating, talk to your health care provider about the benefits and risks of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccination is not mandatory at this time. It is strongly recommended, but it is not required by federal, state, local, or tribal governments. Private employers, however, may choose to require it of their employees when the vaccine is widely available.

Herd immunity occurs when a high percentage of the community is immune to a disease (through vaccination and/or prior illness), making the spread of this disease from person to person unlikely. Herd immunity protects the most vulnerable members of our population. If enough people are vaccinated against dangerous diseases, those who are susceptible and cannot get vaccinated are protected because the germ will not be able to “find” those susceptible individuals.

The percentage of people who need to have protection in order to achieve herd immunity varies by disease, and experts don’t know yet what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19.

Yes, you can get vaccinated in Boone County even if you do not live in Boone County. Our department is focused on vaccinating eligible people who work or live in Boone County, but we know that a lot of people come to Boone County for medical care. In that case, we encourage you to talk to your healthcare provider once vaccines become available for the group you fall in to.

No. Every day, a healthy immune system successfully fights off thousands of germs. Antigens are parts of germs that cause the body’s immune system to go to work to build antibodies, which fight off diseases. The antigens in vaccines come from the germs themselves, but the germs are weakened or killed so they cannot cause serious illness. Even if people receive several vaccinations in one day, vaccines contain only a tiny fraction of the antigens they encounter every day in their environment. Vaccines stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies to fight off serious vaccine-preventable diseases.

Three of the four most advanced COVID-19 vaccines use two doses. The Pfizer vaccine doses should be administered 21 days apart. The Moderna vaccine doses should be administered 28 days apart.

It is important that patients return for the second dose to develop the highest level of protection from SARS-CoV-2. Patients who do not receive the second Pfizer vaccination dose at 21 days or the Moderna vaccination at 28 days should still receive that second dose as soon as possible thereafter.

Yes, patients must receive the same vaccine for both the first and second doses. Your vaccination provider will give you a vaccine card stating the manufacturer name and other critical information you will need for a second dose.

There is no definitive data on how long immunity will last with a vaccine. A COVID-19 vaccine will trigger an immune system response to develop active immunity. Active immunity results when exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease. If an immune person comes into contact with that disease in the future, their immune system will recognize it and immediately produce the antibodies needed to fight it. Although we don’t know exactly how long immunity will last for the specific vaccines in trial, active immunity can be long-lasting.

You should delay your vaccination if you have had a known SARS-CoV-2 (virus that causes COVID-19) exposure until your quarantine period has ended, unless residing in a congregate setting (health care/long-term care facility, correctional facility, homeless shelter, etc.).