Vaccinate All 58 – Let’s Get to Immunity.

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Why get vaccinated?

Do it for yourself, your family, and your community. When you’re vaccinated against COVID-19, you protect yourself from a deadly disease. Vaccinate to stop the spread to your friends, your family, your elders, and the people who work hard to keep our communities safe and open.

Protection from COVID-19 is within reach for even more of our loved ones. Young people aged 12 to 15 years old are eligible to receive the vaccine. By getting our 12–to-15-year-olds vaccinated, families can feel even safer as we venture out more, visit grandma and grandpa, go on summer vacations, and get back to doing the things we love. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized for those 12 and older, following clinical trials as well as FDA and CDC review. This is the same vaccine already safely administered to millions of California adults.

Families looking to make vaccination appointments for their 12+ children can visit MyTurn.ca.gov, call the COVID-19 Hotline at (833) 422-4255, or talk to your family’s pediatrician or healthcare provider.

Vaccination helps us get to community-wide protection (sometimes called herd immunity) much more quickly, saving millions of lives. When enough individuals become vaccinated, it adds up to protection for everyone.

Vaccination is one of the most important steps in ending the pandemic.

Each person that gets vaccinated brings us closer to a post-pandemic world.

More benefits of vaccination

Your chances of being hospitalized with COVID-19 become almost zero
COVID-19 cases will drop, and schools and businesses will safely reopen
We can all get back to the things we love

From nurses, teachers, and farmworkers to many more people in our communities, hear why Californians have gotten vaccinated.

Do the COVID vaccines protect against illness? Noha Aboelata, MD

Feel Good California

Don’t I have immunity if I’ve had COVID?

Farmworker Testimonial

Nurse Ashley

Hello Black America! with W. Kamau Bell & Black Health Care Workers

Why I joined a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial - Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD & Stephaun Wallace, PhD

Hmong Farmworker Testimonial

Teacher Testimonial

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Leading scientists and medical experts in both the U.S. and California confirm the vaccines are safe and effective.

See the evidence

Woman in mask in car getting a covid test

How can I get vaccinated?

Choose any of these ways to get vaccinated. Due to the high demand and limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, appointments may take a few weeks to schedule. Appointments are being added regularly and continue to expand statewide.

Schedule an appointment

Use My Turn to sign up for a vaccine appointment or get notified when more appointments are available.

Schedule appointment

Find more vaccine appointments near you

If appointments with My Turn aren’t immediately available, use VaccineFinder to find more in your area.

Find more appointments

If you need help making an appointment, call (833) 422-4255

You can also check with your healthcare provider or local pharmacy

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The vaccines do not interact with your DNA in any way.

See the evidence

Are the vaccines safe?

Yes. COVID-19 vaccines have gone through extensive clinical trials and the most intensive safety review in U.S. history. Technological advancements in science and an unprecedented amount of resources made the development of vaccines in under a year possible.

Before release, they were tested in tens of thousands of participants of different ages, races, genders, and ethnicities. Most people report no side effects, or only mild ones.

You cannot get COVID-19 from a vaccine.

How we know they’re safe

Millions of people in the United States have been safely vaccinated for COVID-19
Everyone who receives a vaccine is observed while on-site for side effects
Reported side effects have been mild, and are a normal sign that your body is building immunity
These vaccines were built on years of research -- no corners were cut in the process

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Update:

California lifted the temporary pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Visit the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup report to learn more.
For up-to-date information and fact sheets, click here.

Hear why Dr. Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, chose to get vaccinated.

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, speaks about vaccine safety and her choice to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Every vaccine now given in the United States and California helps prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

See the evidence

Are they effective?

Yes. Unlike most medicines, which treat or cure diseases that are already there, vaccines prevent them. The vaccines are highly effective at preventing you from getting seriously ill from COVID-19.

Be sure to get all required doses of a vaccine.

For full protection, both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine require two shots, spaced a few weeks apart. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one shot.

Vaccine effectiveness

All three authorized vaccines have shown high efficacy against severe COVID-19. No vaccinated person died due to COVID-19 during studies of these three vaccines.

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The vaccine is free for all Californians.

Questions and answers

Vaccine trials and approvals commonly begin with older, more vulnerable populations then extend to younger ages. Adolescents were the next group to be prioritized because they are most similar to adults and are more likely than younger kids to spread the virus and become seriously ill. This approach balances the need for safety and speed, while protecting our children throughout vaccine development.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have ongoing clinical trials in people younger than 12. Depending on the outcome of those trials, authorization for this next age group could happen later this year. Johnson & Johnson is currently in clinical trials for the 12-17 age group.
Learn more about the plans to vaccinate younger Californians.
At your appointment, wear a mask and stay 6 feet away from others.
You will get a fact sheet that tells you about the specific vaccine you'll receive, with risks and benefits.
The vaccine will be given to you as a shot in your upper arm.
After vaccination, you'll be monitored on-site for 15 minutes to make sure you don't have a reaction.
Once vaccinated, you'll get a card that tells you what COVID-19 vaccine you got, the date you got it, and where you got it. Bring your vaccination card to your second appointment (if you need two shots), and keep it in case you need it in the future.
Ask your vaccination provider about getting started with v-safe, a free, smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to check how you’re doing after your COVID-19 vaccination.
Once you’re fully protected, which is about two weeks after your final shot, there are many new things you can do safely:
- You can visit with other fully-vaccinated people indoors without masks or distancing
- You can visit with unvaccinated people indoors without masks or distancing, if they are from a single household and are at low risk for getting very sick from COVID-19
- You can skip quarantining and testing if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19 and get no symptoms yourself

Still have questions?

Everyone deserves answers.

Visit California’s COVID-19 Vaccines webpage or call the COVID-19 Hotline at 1-833-422-4255.

Share resources for your community

Share more about COVID-19 vaccines and why they’re so important. Visit the Partner Toolkit page to find images and videos you can post on social media and use in communities across California.