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

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.

Find more vaccine appointments near you

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

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

You can also check with your healthcare provider or local pharmacy

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.

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.