Vaccine Clinics

Of the authorized and recommended vaccines to prevent COVID-19 in the United States, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines need two shots to be effective. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine requires only one shot for vaccination. 

Vaccine doses purchased with U.S. taxpayer dollars will be given to the American people at no cost. However, vaccination providers will be able to charge an administration fee for giving the shot to someone. Vaccine providers can get this fee reimbursed by the patient’s public or private insurance company or, for uninsured patients, by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.

CDC is making recommendations for who should be offered COVID-19 vaccine first when supplies are limited. To help guide decisions about how to distribute limited initial supplies of COVID-19 vaccine, CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have published recommendations for which groups should be vaccinated first. The goal is for everyone to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as large quantities of vaccine are available.

While CDC makes recommendations for who should be offered COVID-19 vaccine first, each state has its own plan for vaccine prioritization, distribution and allocation. The California Department of Public Health’s prioritizations are available here. 

Learn how CDC is making COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, including recommendations if there is a limited supply, based on input from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to you regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 infection. You should not be required to have an antibody test before you are vaccinated.

However, anyone currently infected with COVID-19 should wait to get vaccinated until after their illness has resolved and after they have met the criteria to discontinue isolation.

Additionally, current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection. Therefore, people with a recent infection may delay vaccination until the end of that 90-day period if desired.

Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools available. Vaccines work with your immune system so your body will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed. Other steps, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask and staying at least 6 feet away from others, help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others. Together, COVID-19 vaccination and following CDC’s recommendations to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19.

Yes. While experts learn more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide under real-life conditions, it will be important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to us to help stop this pandemic, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask, washing hands often, and staying at least 6 feet away from others. Together, COVID-19 vaccination and following CDC’s recommendations for how to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from getting and spreading COVID-19. Experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide before deciding to change recommendations on steps everyone should take to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Other factors, including how many people get vaccinated and how the virus is spreading in communities, will also affect this decision.

The protection someone gains from having an infection (called natural immunity) varies depending on the disease, and it varies from person to person. Since this virus is new, we don’t know how long natural immunity might last. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection.

Regarding vaccination, we won’t know how long immunity lasts until we have more data on how well the vaccines work.

Both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity are important aspects of COVID-19 that experts are trying to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.

Yes! Through a partnership with Fox Home Health, the County of Sonoma is providing COVID-19 vaccinations to adults 16 years of age and older who are homebound for a variety of medical reasons and have difficulty getting to a clinic. Fox Home Health  is operating a mobile vaccine clinic for those who are homebound. This service is available to those who are homebound as defined by Medicare: 

• You need the help of another person or medical equipment such as crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair to leave your home, or your doctor believes that your health or illness could get worse if you leave your home.
• And, it is difficult for you to leave your home and you typically cannot do so.

Medicare still considers you homebound even if you can still leave your home for medical treatment, religious services, and/or to attend a licensed or accredited adult day care center. Fox Home Health will screen homebound individuals for eligibility before providing vaccinations. Homebound individuals who fit the criteria should call (707) 565-4667 or email stompcovid@foxandassociates.org for more information.

With three safe, effective vaccines available from Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, you may feel compelled to wait or hunt for a specific vaccine. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, though, the best vaccine is the one that is available to you. “Waiting to get vaccinated until a particular brand is available is risky because it allows the virus to spread among people and continue to mutate into potentially more infectious or vaccine resistant variants,” Dr. Fauci explained. In very specific situations, those experiencing homelessness, for example, the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is preferable because instability makes getting a second dose challenging. For most of us, though, according to Dr. Fauci, this is a “race between the virus and vaccines…If it’s available to you, get it.”