• Oregon Health Authority tools:
  • Get Vaccinated Oregon, a tool that lets you check eligibility, get alerts, and get help finding a vaccine provider when you are eligible. 
  • Vaccine Information Tool, a chatbot that lets you see if you're eligible for a vaccine.
• Text ORCOVID to 898211 for updates (English and Spanish only)
• Email ORCOVID@211info.org
• Call 211 or 866-698-6155, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day
• TTY: Call 711 or 866-698-6155
• Help for people with disabilities or who speak a language other than English: Call 971-673-2411 or email COVID19.LanguageAccess@dhsoha.state.or.us

For people enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan:

• Ride to Care (Health Share of Oregon members): 503-416-3955 or 855-321-4899
• MTM (Trillium members): 877-583-1552
• Tri-County MedLink (Oregon Health Plan Fee for Service members): 800-889-8726

For some others:

• Ride Connection (weekdays, older adults and people with disabilities in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties): 503-226-0700
• TriMet LIFT (people unable to use regular buses and trains because of disability; enroll before scheduling): 503-962-8000
• One Call (Providence Medicare members): 866-733-8994

• A vaccine will help protect you and your family from getting COVID-19.
• The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency-use authorization to three vaccines: by Pfizer-BioNTech, by Moderna and by Johnson & Johnson. 
• The Pfizer vaccine is approved for ages 16 and older. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for ages 18 and older. The FDA needs more data to know if the vaccines are safe for younger people.
• The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses — Pfizer's three weeks apart and Moderna's four weeks apart. Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is one dose.
• If you miss the recommended window for your second dose, schedule it as soon as you can. You do not have to start over with another first dose. Learn more in the FAQ below titled "I missed the recommended window for my second dose. Should I still get it?"
• Vaccines are expected to be available to the general public, for ages 16 and older, as early as spring 2021 as supplies increase.
• Experts have placed a high priority on making sure the vaccines are safe and effective.
• Cost shouldn’t be an issue. The federal government is buying doses to provide free of charge.
• It’s important to continue safety practices: Wear a mask, maintain physical distance, and wash your hands often.

Supplies are limited. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended vaccinating the highest-risk groups first, and states followed suit.

States have detailed plans on how to distribute vaccines as supplies increase:

• Oregon’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan
• Washington’s Interim COVID-19 Vaccination Plan

Yes. It’s important to get your second shot, or booster, to make sure your vaccination is as effective as possible. Schedule your second dose as soon as you can.

It’s also important to know:

• There is no maximum time between doses.
• OHSU has no limit on how long after a first shot people can schedule a second.
• OHSU recommends second doses:
  • 19-35 days after your first Pfizer dose (Pfizer recommends three weeks, or 21 days).
  • 25-35 days after your first Moderna dose (Moderna recommends four weeks, or 28 days).
• The CDC updated its guidelines to recommend second doses — when a delay is unavoidable — up to six weeks (42 days) after the first dose.
• Even if you miss all these windows, you don’t have to start over by repeating a first dose. Just get your second dose.
• There is little data on how well mRNA vaccines (like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines) work when the second dose is more than six weeks after the first. That means it’s not known whether waiting longer makes the vaccine more effective, less effective or causes no change.

Learn more:

• Is it Safe to Delay a Second COVID Vaccine Dose? Scientific American

It's not clear yet.

So far, vaccines are available in the U.S. only for people who are at least 16. Vaccines are first tested in adults to make sure they are safe and effective. Then they are tested in older children before clinical trials start with younger children.

Both Moderna and Pfizer are testing their vaccines in children as young as 12. Moderna hopes to have a vaccine approved for ages 12 and older by summer 2021, CEO Stephane Bancel said in January 2021. That could enable older students to return to school in fall 2021.

Moderna expects to start clinical trials in younger children soon, but Bancel said the company doesn’t expect to have results until 2022.

Meanwhile, vaccinations of adults will help protect children, too. As more people are vaccinated, the coronavirus will become less able to spread. Children are also at much lower risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines spur the body to make antibodies that specifically fight the coronavirus. Antibodies are made by white blood cells and are part of the immune system — the body’s system to fight infection.

The vaccines do this by sending a snippet of genetic material from the coronavirus — instructions called messenger RNA or mRNA — into  cells. The instructions tell the cells to make a harmless spike protein like the one on the coronavirus.

The body’s immune system recognizes that this protein doesn’t belong here. It activates white blood cells to form the infection-fighting antibodies. The immune system also remembers the spike protein, so it's ready to fight the real coronavirus should it become present in the body.

Once the proteins are made, the body destroys the mRNA.

After vaccination:

• If you contract the coronavirus, your immune system is better able to attack it, making you less likely to develop COVID-19.
• Based on knowledge of other illnesses, health experts expect that if you do develop COVID-19, you will be less likely to become seriously ill.
• Your immune system knows how to fight the coronavirus without having come in contact with it.

Learn more:

• Understanding how COVID-19 Vaccines Work, CDC
• Understanding mRNA Vaccines, CDC

See the “Vaccine safety” section above to learn why experts are confident the vaccines are safe. This video offers more information.

You can expect mainly mild to moderate side effects such as:

• Fatigue
• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle aches and pains

In clinical trials, side effects tended to be higher after the second dose, and less for those older than 65.

Side effects can be managed with:

• Rest
• Drinking fluids
• Fever-reducing medication, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)

Call your health care provider if you have side effects that bother you or that don't go away.

Learn more:

What to Expect after Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine, CDC

Call 911 or go to the nearest hospital if you have a severe allergic reaction such as:

• Swelling of the throat and mouth
• Trouble breathing
• Lightheadedness
• Confusion
• Blue skin or lips
• Fainting

Call your health care provider if you have side effects that bother you or that don’t go away.

Learn more:

COVID-19 Vaccines and Allergic Reactions, CDC

Health officials are tracking side effects as part of widespread efforts to monitor vaccine safety. You can report side effects to:

• The FDA/CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS): Visit the VAERS website or call 1-800-822-7967.
• V-safe: Learn how to use the CDC’s new v-safe smartphone tool.

Medical gloves are in short supply worldwide. Oregon would need millions of additional pairs if gloves were used for all vaccinations.

In addition, under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, providers are not required to wear them for COVID-19 vaccinations. Except in special cases, providers can clean their hands between each recipient instead.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices agree that hand hygiene can replace glove use.

Learn more: 

The Reason Why Nurses Don’t Wear Gloves When Giving COVID-19 Vaccine Explained

Yes. There are several reasons:

• If you have a two-dose vaccine, your vaccination won’t be complete until after you’ve had the second dose. The second dose is after three weeks for the Pfizer vaccine, four weeks for Moderna.
• It can take two weeks for your body to develop immunity after your vaccination. You could come in contact with the coronavirus in the meantime.
• The vaccines appear to do a good job of preventing COVID-19. But experts don't yet know if being vaccinated will prevent you from carrying and spreading the virus to others, with or without symptoms.
• Health experts say that stopping the pandemic will require every tool available. Masks, frequent hand-washing and physical distancing (staying at least 6 feet from others) will still play important roles.

To start your protection as soon as possible, you should be vaccinated as soon as possible. This means getting the vaccine that is available to you.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been found to be highly effective. In addition, any new vaccine must be found to offer good protection against COVID-19 to win FDA authorization. The FDA also continues monitoring vaccines to see how they perform.

No. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and others in the pipeline do not contain live virus. That makes it impossible to get COVID-19 from the vaccine.

Although mRNA vaccines have not been widely used against an infectious disease before, they have been used in cancer treatments. Researchers have also been working with mRNA vaccines for decades in studies of the flu, Zika and other illnesses.

The mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed with the same rigorous standards applied to all vaccines.

No. DNA is in the nucleus of cells, protected by the nuclear membrane. The mRNA does not enter the nucleus, and it does not affect or interact with DNA. In addition, mRNA from a vaccine cannot be made into DNA that could change a person's DNA.  

Yes, you may choose to be vaccinated. Though it’s not required, you may want to talk with your pregnancy provider about:

• Your risk of being exposed to the coronavirus.
• The higher risk of serious illness for people who get COVID-19 while pregnant.
• The higher risk of premature birth or other pregnancy complications for people who get COVID-19 while pregnant.
• Whether you have any other medical condition that could put you at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19.
• Information about vaccines in people who aren’t pregnant.
• The lack of information about COVID-19 vaccines in people who are pregnant.

Learn more:

Vaccination Considerations for People who are Pregnant or Breastfeeding, CDC

OHSU experts recommend that you talk with your health care provider. The CDC says people who are both breastfeeding and in a high-priority group recommended for vaccination, such as health care workers, may choose to be vaccinated.

There is no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in people who are breastfeeding, in breast milk or in breastfeeding infants. Breastfeeding people were not part of clinical trials. The CDC says, though, that mRNA vaccines are not thought to be a risk to breastfeeding infants.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that vaccination be offered to people who are breastfeeding under the same guidelines as for people who aren’t.

Learn more:

Vaccination Considerations for People who are Pregnant or Breastfeeding, CDC

Yes. It's possible to get COVID-19 again, which can result in serious illness.

In addition, experts don’t know how long people can expect to be immune after having COVID-19. The CDC said early evidence suggests it’s not very long.

Scientists don’t know yet. Dr. Anthony Fauci estimates the U.S. will reach population immunity (also called herd immunity) when 75-80% of the population has been vaccinated. This is the point at which enough people have immunity to keep the coronavirus from easily spreading.