COVID-19 vaccine progress and safety with Mike Brownlee, PharmD

Read our takeaways

• Get your COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it’s available to you.
• Be patient—it may take some time before you are eligible and an appointment time is available to receive your COVID-19 vaccine.
• We have an inclusive vaccination program to provide vaccines, including to those who aren’t currently our patients.
• Our vaccination program prioritizes safety.
• The vaccines that have received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Pfizer-BioNTech (Comiranty) and Moderna) are safe and effective.
  • It is very important to get the second dose of the vaccine.
• Continue safety practices (masks, distancing, hand-washing, avoiding enclosed spaces, etc.) before and even after you receive your vaccine. Read three reasons why this is important.
• Common side effects of the vaccines include arm pain, headache, fatigue, fever, or chills, lasting up to 48 hours.
  • These common side effects are a good thing—it means that the vaccine is working in your body.
  • Even if you don’t have side effects, you can trust that the vaccine is working in your body.
• The mRNA vaccines provide messages to your body to create the spike protein so that antibodies can be created.