COVID-19 vaccines can help us get back to the things we love.
- We all want to get back to our lives. Vaccinations can help us get back to many of the things we miss most. This includes spending time with loved ones and friends, traveling and going to events.
- Here at [COMPANY], we’re committed to sharing trusted information about COVID-19 vaccines. Our mission is [ADD HERE], and helping our employees and workers stay healthy is a top priority.
Note: Make a direct connection between your mission and your motives for sharing vaccine information. Be direct and transparent. Will COVID-19 vaccines help you work better together? Allow your employees to get back out into the community? Ensure that the services you provide are safe? Let your people do the work they love?
Vaccines are free and widely available.
- Everyone in the United States ages 5 and older is eligible to receive free COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of immigration status. You don’t need health insurance to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
- Vaccines are widely available at more than 80,000 locations across the country, including at over 40,000 retail pharmacies. Ninety percent of Americans live within five miles of a vaccine site.
- Search vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near you.
- In order to protect yourself and prevent the spread, it’s important that you get vaccinated at your earliest opportunity.
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and they work.
- There are multiple COVID-19 vaccines that have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means the clinical evidence for the vaccines have met the agency's rigorous scientific standards and are considered to be safe and effective. They have been studied in clinical trials with large and diverse groups of people, of various ages, races and ethnicities.
- On August 23, 2021, the FDA announced full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults ages 16 and older. Full FDA approval takes longer than Emergency Use Authorization because more data needs to be processed and reviewed over a longer period of time. When a product is fully approved by the FDA, patients can be assured that its recommendation is grounded in large amounts of scientific data.
- Vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19 without having to get sick or put yourself and others at risk of severe illness and death.
- Getting vaccinated is a much safer way to build protection than getting the disease. COVID-19 can have serious, long-term or life-threatening complications, and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. And if you get infected, you could spread the disease to friends, family and others around you.
- You may have some side effects after getting vaccinated. That’s a normal sign that your body is building protection—and they should go away within a few days. Your arm may be sore or swollen. You may also feel tired, have a headache, fever, or chills. This does not mean you have COVID-19—in fact, it’s not possible to get COVID-19 from vaccines.
- Vaccines are being administered by trained health professionals. Some people might be offered a vaccine that requires two doses, given several weeks apart, while other people might be offered a single-dose vaccine. It may take several weeks after vaccination for your body to be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed.
- For the strongest protection against the Omicron variant, federal health officials now recommend we keep our vaccinations up to date with a booster shot, which is recommended for all people ages 12 and older. The vaccines are still highly effective at preventing serious illness, but boosters restore the protection, even against mild cases, that wanes over time.
- A booster dose is available five months after receiving a second shot of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
- Boosters show that medical experts are continuing to find ways to prolong protection through vaccines.
- If you are immunocompromised or have a weakened immune system, CDC recommends that you receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to strengthen your protection against Delta. You should speak with your doctor or healthcare provider about whether a third vaccine dose and other precautions are right for you.
Our company’s top priority is the health and safety of our employees, their families and our customers.
- If you are sick with COVID-19 or think you might have COVID-19, stay home except to get medical care, separate yourself from other people and take other precautions to prevent the spread.
- You should get tested for COVID-19 if you have symptoms, have close contact (within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period) with someone with confirmed COVID-19, or take part in activities that put you at higher risk for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status.
- If your vaccinations are up to date (with a booster), you should wear a well-fitted mask for 10 days following the date of exposure and get tested after 5 days.
- If you are not fully vaccinated or boosted, you should quarantine for at least 5 days, get a negative test before returning to work and wear a well-fitted mask for an additional 5 days.
- The CDC recommends that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public indoor settings in areas with areas with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission. A majority of counties across the U.S. are experiencing either “substantial” or “high” transmission rates that call for indoor mask-wearing, according to CDC.
It is normal to have questions.
- It’s normal to be cautious when something new comes along. Getting informed about COVID-19 vaccines is an important step to help us stop this pandemic.
- Talk to your doctor or healthcare provider. We all need to be comfortable with our decisions and your doctor can help.
- OK...what questions do you have? (For answers to frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccines, visit GetVaccineAnswers.org.)
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