Covid Vaccine Information
If you are receiving a Covid Vaccine here is some useful information for you and your family member to help better understand the vaccine.
Click here, to Learn more about the Moderna vaccine.
Click here, to learn more about the Pfizer Vaccine.
If you are receiving the Moderna Vaccine:
- For 6 months – 5 years of age
- For 6 – 11 years of age
- For 12+ years of age (primary series) and 18+ (bivalent booster)
How does the COVID-19 vaccine work?
The COVID-19 vaccine exposes your body to an antigen that creates an immune response that will block or kill the virus if you become infected. This is how all vaccines are designed to work.
Why did the COVID-19 take months instead of years to develop?
For some vaccines, it takes many years for development and approval, but the COVID-19 vaccine had a unique set of circumstances that allowed for speedier development.
- We were able to rely on data from the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS CoV vaccines, which made the initial development stage much faster.
- The U.S. government gave pharmaceutical companies an emergency authority to begin the manufacturing process simultaneously with the clinical trial.
- Manufacturing is usually scaled substantially after trials have concluded, but Operation Warp Speed has enabled manufacturers to de-risk and build manufacturing alongside clinical trials.
- Given the urgency of this pandemic, more participants were willing to partake in the clinical trials, which helped prove efficacy more quickly.
- Cutting-edge manufacturing technologies allowed pharmaceutical companies to quickly produce a supply of vaccines.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe?
We will only administer vaccines approved by the FDA or approved for emergency use. Pharmaca’s trained team of pharmacists will store, handle and administer the vaccine in adherence to official CDC guidance.
Am I currently eligible to receive the vaccine?
Everyone 18 years of age and older is eligible to receive a free Moderna or Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine. Minors 12 years of age and older are eligible to receive a free Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at the time of their appointment.