For your safety and the safety of those around you, it is important to get the COVID-19 vaccination as soon as it is available.

Participants should receive the vaccination as soon as possible to lower the chances of not only contracting the virus, but also bringing it home to their families and communities.

The vaccine is well-researched and safe to receive. It works by introducing genetic material that trains the immune system to neutralize the virus if it enters the body. Side effects from receiving the vaccine are usually resolved within two days and include minor reactions such as fatigue, headache and muscle pain.

A very small number of people may react allergically to the vaccine, so it is a good idea for those with a history of medical allergies to remain close to the vaccination location for 30 minutes following the injection.

Just as we have all worn masks, practiced social distancing and washed our hands over the past year, we must also receive both doses of the vaccine in order to help the U.S. reach herd immunity and get the spread of the virus under control.

Only through widespread vaccination against the coronavirus can we fully protect at-risk members across our state and the country and begin to return to a long-awaited sense of normality.

Talk to your health care provider about when you may be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccine: Myth vs fact

MYTH: It was rushed and isn’t safe.
FACT: Researchers took no safety shortcuts. Large studies show the vaccine is safe.

MYTH: It changes your DNA.
FACT: It is impossible for the vaccine to change your DNA.

MYTH: It can give you COVID-19.
FACT: The vaccine does not contain any virus and can’t give you COVID-19.

MYTH: It causes severe side effects.
FACT: For most, the vaccine causes mild side effectss that resolve in a few days.

MYTH: It makes women infertile.
FACT: There is no evidence that the vaccine causes infertility.