Starting on April 18, all Virginians age 16 and older will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.
While health districts have continued to expand availability, many of you still have questions about the vaccine or have had trouble getting an appointment.
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We’re working for you to make sure that you’re able to get an appointment if you want one, and that you feel prepared when the time comes.
How many Virginians are fully vaccinated?
Who is eligible?
Starting on April 18, all of Virginia will move to Phase 2 and anyone over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Some health districts are already in Phase 2, below is a full map of Virginia’s health districts and counties and which phase they are currently in:
How can I get the vaccine?
To get a vaccine through the Virginia Department of Health, you need to pre-register here. When you’re eligible, you’ll be contacted about available appointments in your health district.
If you’re having trouble pre-registering online, you can also call 877-VAX-IN-VA. The phone line is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week and you can talk to someone in English or Spanish.
Pharmacies are also offering vaccine appointments. Click here to see available appointments through CVS and here to see available appointments through Walgreens.
You can also use the VaccineFinder website, which helps you find local clinics, pharmacies and other locations offering coronavirus vaccines in your area.
What’s the cost?
The vaccine is free to everyone.
When you schedule your appointment you may be asked about insurance information, but insurance coverage is not necessary to receive a dose.
What vaccines are available?
There are currently two different options for vaccines — Pfizer and Moderna.
Administrations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are currently on pause in Virginia as the CDC conducts an investigation into possible side effects.
Pfizer and Moderna are administered in two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is just one.
Is one vaccine better than the other?
They’re all different, but experts say they’re alike in what matters most — preventing hospitalizations and death.
“When we look at the thing we probably care about most — making sure that we don’t end up in the ICU or dying — the efficacy of the three vaccines is virtually identical,” says Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco on NPR.
Different studies were done on the vaccines before they were rolled out, but experts have said the problem is it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Studies show that both Pfizer and Moderna were found to be 95% effective against preventing symptomatic coronavirus after the second dose. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was found to be 66% protective against moderate to severe illness overall across the globe, and 72% protective against those cases in the U.S.
Scientists say you can’t really compare those results because the trials were done in different places at different times, and the strains spreading at those times were likely different. For example, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was tested more recently while more contagious variants of COVID-19 were spreading.
Is the vaccine safe?
Yes.
As of April 5, more than 167 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the country. According to the CDC, coronavirus vaccines are being administered under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.
COVID-19 vaccinations have been evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials.
You can read more about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines here.
Can I take painkillers before or after the vaccine to help with possible side effects?
Don’t take them beforehand to try to avoid symptoms, but according to the Associated Press, it’s okay to take them after if needed if your doctor okays it.
The concern with using pain killers is that it could curb the immune response that a vaccine aims to spur.
What can I do once I’m fully vaccinated?
Experts say that you can gather in small groups again, but you should still wear a mask and social distance in public.
People who are fully vaccinated can spend time together indoors without a mask on. You can also meet with unvaccinated people from one household at a time so long as those people are considered low risk, travel domestically with a pre- or post-travel test and without quarantining, and even travel internationally in certain cases.
You can read more about what the CDC has to say here.
Should I still get the vaccine if I’ve had coronavirus?
Yes!
Experts still don’t know how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering.
If you’ve been treated for coronavirus with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, the CDC says you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. If you’re not sure which treatment you received, check with your doctor.