YOU’RE ELIGIBLE FOR THE COVID-19 VACCINE!

All people age 6 months and older can get vaccinated at Cook County Health. Don’t forget to get your booster shot when you are eligible to maximize your protection! Talk to your doctor about any questions. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Vaccinations are free, regardless of insurance or immigration status.

Receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool in our fight against COVID-19.

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DOSES ADMINISTERED IN ILLINOIS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT THE COVID-19 VACCINE

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Getting vaccinated is the easiest and most effective way to stay safe.

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Getting vaccinated will protect yourself and those around you and will help keep your community healthy.

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The vaccine will not give you COVID-19. The COVID-19 vaccine cannot create an infection and you will not be contagious.

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The vaccine works with your immune system so you can better fight the virus if you are exposed.

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Most of the available vaccines require two doses and then booster shots are recommended. The first dose primes your immune system to respond to the virus, and then the additional doses make the effects of the vaccine last longer. By having more than one dose, the vaccine will allow your body to have a more effective response to the virus.

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You might experience some side effects in the 24 hours after receiving your shots, including fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, and pain at the site of injection. These side effects are an immune response which means the body is doing what it is supposed to.

DEVELOPING THE VACCINE

Prioritizing Safety and Efficiency

While researchers worked quickly to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, safety and effectiveness were always the top priority. The vaccine was created with everyone’s safety in mind without cutting corners or skipping steps.

How were researchers able to develop it so quickly?

Researchers used years of previous research in other viruses and vaccines to help inform a vaccine development process for COVID-19.

For the past year, everyone involved dedicated all their resources and time to developing the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and philanthropic organizations.

Many governments around the world, including the U.S. government, and private funders invested in the vaccine, which allowed pharmaceutical companies to focus on research and clinical trials instead of fundraising, one of the most time-consuming parts of vaccine development.

Finally, because of the financial support, researchers were able to conduct different parts of the development process at the same time instead of one after another, shortening the process. No steps were skipped in the process of developing the COVID-19 vaccines.

LEARN MORE

There’s a lot of information out there about the COVID-19 vaccine, and it can be hard to know where to go to find what you need.

We’ve collected these sources to help answer your questions, but first – what makes a source reliable?

We consider reliable resources for COVID vaccine information to be public health departments, educational institutions, health systems, and medical professionals. These websites usually end in .org or .edu. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are not good sources for vaccine facts.

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