If you wonder which COVID-19 vaccine is best for you and your family, Kimberly Bolling, MD, wants to assure you that all FDA-approved vaccines are perfectly safe. Dr. Bolling recommends getting a vaccine sooner rather than later.
All of the vaccines prevent COVID-19 infection. In the rare cases where an infection does break through, the vaccine reduces the severity of symptoms and the danger of COVID-19.
If you have kids between the ages of 12 and 18, the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Janssen vaccine is the only one that’s currently FDA-approved for that age group. Be sure to vaccinate your children who are over 12 right away, rather than waiting for the next vaccine approval. It’s especially important to protect kids who are going back to school.
On September 20, 2021, Pfizer announced that its vaccine is safe for kids 5 and up. The company hopes to get FDA approval within a month. Once the FDA approves the vaccine, you can vaccinate your children who were too young for the J&J vaccine.
If you’re over age 65 or are immunocompromised, and you’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you may be eligible for a booster vaccine this fall. The boosters help you build a stronger immune response against the virus.
You should get a booster of the same type of vaccine you received the first time. Boosters may not be necessary for healthy young people, whose immune systems created plenty of antibodies against the virus with their first dose.
Three companies have produced vaccines that are safe and effective against COVID-19 and are approved by the FDA. Even if you think you’re healthy, it’s still important to get vaccinated. Sometimes even very young and healthy people without underlying conditions get extremely ill or even die from COVID-19.
Getting vaccinated also helps your loved ones and your community at large. The more people who get vaccinated, the fewer chances the vaccine has to pass between individuals and to mutate to more dangerous forms.
All of the vaccines are free from metals, latex, eggs, and preservatives. You can see a full list of ingredients for each vaccine here.
After you get vaccinated, you must wait at the vaccine center for about 15 minutes so the medical professionals are sure you don’t have a negative reaction or side effects.
The J&J vaccine uses viral vector technology. That means they use a modified version of a different type of virus (not COVID-19) to train your body to create the kind of protein made by COVID-19. In this way, your body learns to fight COVID without actually getting sick from it.
Anyone 18 or older can get the J&J vaccine. You need only one J&J shot. You’re fully vaccinated (i.e., your body made antibodies to COVID-19) two weeks after your one and only shot.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is an mRNA vaccine. That means it teaches your cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response to COVID-19. In other words, the vaccine trains your body to fight the disease without ever having to have the disease.
Anyone over age 12 can get the Pfizer vaccine today. You get two shots that are administered three weeks apart. You’re fully vaccinated two weeks after your second shot.
The Moderna vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine. So far, the Moderna vaccine seems to protect better against breakthrough infections with the Delta variant than the other vaccines do.
However, that doesn’t mean you should wait until the Moderna vaccine becomes available in your area before getting your vaccine. The best vaccine you can get is the one you can get now. Waiting for the “perfect” vaccine is too risky.
Anyone over age 18 can get the Moderna shot today. You must get two shots, given four weeks apart. You’re fully vaccinated two weeks after your second shot.
Unless you’re allergic to the ingredients in a vaccine, most side effects to a vaccination are very rare. Typically, they include:
Side effects last only for a few days. Infection with COVID-19 creates far more severe symptoms in most cases and usually lasts a lot longer. Nobody knows what the long-term implications of COVID-19 infection are. Some people who had COVID-19 still have symptoms months later.
You can locate a vaccination center near you with this online tool. You can even book your appointment online here. If you need to see Dr. Bolling, call our Bowie, Maryland, office today at 301-352-0090 or request an appointment online.
