COVID-19 vaccines remain safe and effective. They prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Vaccines make people more likely to have a milder and shorter illness compared to those who are unvaccinated.

Our pharmacies and clinics are administering FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines to patients age 5 years and older! Make your appointment today!

The federal government is providing the vaccine free of charge to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status.

COVID-19 vaccination providers cannot:

• Charge you for the vaccine
• Charge you directly for any administration fees, copays, or coinsurance
• Deny vaccination to anyone who does not have health insurance coverage, is underinsured, or is out of network
• Charge an office visit or other fee to the recipient if the only service provided is a COVID-19 vaccination
• Require additional services in order for a person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine; however, additional healthcare services can be provided at the same time and billed as appropriate

COVID-19 vaccination providers can:

• Seek appropriate reimbursement from the recipient’s plan or program (e.g., private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid) for a vaccine administration fee. However, providers cannot charge the vaccine recipient the balance of the bill.
• Seek reimbursement for uninsured vaccine recipients from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s COVID-19 Uninsured Program External icon.

All three vaccines authorized in the United States are safe and effective. They cannot be compared because the vaccines have not been studied in head-to-head comparisons or trials. Additionally, the clinical trials for each vaccine occurred in different circumstances that may have influenced the trial outcomes like geography, points in time, and variant circulations. The FDA, CDC, and ACIP have not declared preference for one vaccine over another. The best vaccine is the first one available to you!

Depending on the area, our pharmacies and clinics will administer Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and/or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. All three vaccines are safe and effective, and there is no preference for one product over another.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose to complete the primary vaccine series. If you have a weakened immune system, it is recommended you receive more than one dose for optimal protection. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses to complete the primary vaccine series. The first dose builds protection and the second dose strengthens the immune response.

Our pharmacies and clinics are trained and ready to administer the COVID-19 vaccines. As doses are allocated to us, we are administering in accordance with jurisdiction-defined eligibility.

Patients with a weakened immune system are recommended to receive an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because they are most likely to get severely ill and are at a higher risk for prolonged infection. Our pharmacies and clinics are able to provide additional doses to eligible patients.

Booster doses of a vaccine are needed when evidence shows the vaccinated population’s immune response over time is waning or weakening. Additional doses of a vaccine are needed when evidence shows the vaccinated population’s immune response over time is insufficient.

Studies show immunocompromised people need an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because they don’t always build the same level of immunity the way non-immunocompromised people do, and an additional dose promotes adequate protection.