Covid 19 Vaccine Iniative
AccessHealth is looking to serve our Fort Bend County, and surrounding areas, in increasing accessibility to COVID-19 vaccines to disproportionately affected populations while also working directly with community leaders, organizations, and other trusted sources to develop and disseminate outreach and targeted educational materials to promote vaccine awareness and uptake.
Our goal is to partner with trusted sources in our community and collaborate on finding the most effective ways to serve our population, working together to plan and implement COVID-19 vaccination sites and events. If you or your organization is interested in partnering with AccessHealth’s COVID-19 vaccine initiative, please contact us at: [email protected]
ABOUT THE COVID-19 VACCINE:
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe illness from COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the virus that causes it. At AccessHealth, we encourage our community members to get the COVID-19 vaccine as it prevents serious illness, it is safer way to build protection, and it offers added protection. For more COVID-19 information, please visit the CDC (Center for Disease and Control Prevention) website at: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines Including Boosters | CDC
How to be best protected: As with vaccines for other diseases, people are best protected when they stay up to date with the recommended number of doses, including bivalent boosters, when eligible.
UPCOMING COVID-19 VACCINATION SITES
AccessHealth will be hosting pop-up and mobile vaccination sites across Fort Bend County and surrounding areas, either independently or in collaboration with other trusted entities. COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed on first-come first-served basis. We will be distributing Pfizer/Moderna primary series (first two shots) and booster (bivalent) shots.
Please refer to our Events Page for information on vaccination sites’ time, date, and location.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you have any questions or concerns relating to COVID-19 vaccines or our COVID-19 vaccine initiative, please feel free to contact our team at: [email protected].FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs):
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. Nearly all the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are also ingredients in many foods – fats, sugars, and salts. The vaccines met the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization (EUA). COVID-19 vaccines are monitored by the most intense safety monitoring efforts in U.S. history. More than 672 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the United States from December 14, 2020, through March 1, 2023.
COVID 19-vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness from COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the virus that causes it. Vaccine effectiveness is a measure of how well vaccination protects people against infection, symptomatic illness, medically attended illness, including emergency department and urgent care visits, and severe illness, including hospitalization and death. CDC conducts observational studies specifically designed to estimate protection provided by vaccination under “real-world” conditions. These vaccine effectiveness studies provide estimates that help us better understand how well the vaccines work in different groups of people, against different health outcomes (such as infection, symptomatic illness, hospitalization, and death), and during periods when different virus variants are circulating (such as Omicron and Delta). Results from these studies generate the evidence needed to inform COVID-19 vaccine policy decisions.
Children and teens (6 months – 17 years), and adults (18 years and older) are all eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and the booster. COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are based on three things:
1. Your age
2. The vaccine you first received, and
3. The length of time since your last dose
If you recently had COVID-19, you still need to stay up to date with your vaccines, but you may consider delaying your next vaccine dose (whether a primary dose or booster) by 3 months from when your symptoms started, or if you had no symptoms, when you first received a positive test. More specifics about staying up to date on your vaccine can be found here: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines Including Boosters | CDC. For people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, vaccine recommendations can be found here: COVID-19 Vaccines for People Who Are Moderately or Severely Immunocompromised | CDC
Currently, there are three main types of COVID-19 vaccines that are approved or authorized for use in the United States: mRNA, viral vector, and protein subunit. Each type of vaccine prompts our bodies to recognize and help protect us from the virus that causes COVID-19.
mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. This immune response, which produces antibodies, is what helps protect us from getting sick from that germ in the future.
Protein subunit vaccines (Novavax) contain pieces (proteins) of the virus that causes COVID-19. These virus pieces are the spike protein. The vaccine also contains another ingredient called an adjuvant that helps the immune system respond to that spike protein in the future. Once the immune system knows how to respond to the spike protein, the immune system will be able to respond quickly to the actual virus spike protein and protect you against COVID-19.
Viral vector COVID-19 vaccines (Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen) use a modified version of a different virus (a vector virus) to deliver important instructions to our cells.
None of these vaccines can give you COVID-19. Vaccines do not use any live virus. Vaccines cannot cause infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 or other viruses. They do not affect or interact with our DNA. These vaccines do not enter the nucleus of the cell where our DNA (genetic material) is located, so it cannot change or influence our genes.
There are several other ways you can look for vaccine providers near you: Ask your doctor, pharmacist, or community health center, or visit their website, Contact your state health department, Check your local pharmacy’s website to see if vaccination appointments are available. Some pharmacies may offer vaccines to those who walk-in without making an appointment ahead of time. To find COVID-19 vaccine locations near you: Search vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233. If you are homebound: Contact your healthcare provider or your state or local health department for information about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, Contact groups that are advocates for people who are homebound or that provide home health services, Call The Aging Network at 1-800-677-1116, Search for services by ZIP code with the Eldercare Locator, Contact the Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) at 1-888-677-1199, or Call the hotline for Medicare recipients at 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048).
There are many benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Prevents serious illness: COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are safe and effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying.
• A safer way to build protection: Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19.
• Offers added protection: COVID-19 vaccines can offer added protection to people who had COVID-19, including protection against being hospitalized from a new infection.
How to be best protected: As with vaccines for other diseases, people are best protected when they stay up to date with the recommended number of doses, including bivalent boosters, when eligible.
Side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine can vary from person to person. Some people experience a little discomfort and can continue to go about their day. Others have side effects that affect their ability to do daily activities. Side effects generally go away in a few days. Even if you don’t experience any side effects, your body is building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19.
Common side effects after a COVID-19 vaccination tend to be mild, temporary, and like those experienced after routine vaccinations. Common side effects can include: On the arm where you got the shot (Pain at the injection site, Redness, Swelling), Throughout the rest of your body (Fatigue, Headache, Muscle pain and body aches, Chills, Fever, Nausea), To relieve pain or swelling on the arm where you got the shot (Apply a clean, cool, wet washcloth over the area, Use or keep moving your arm, If possible, get some rest), To reduce discomfort from fever (Drink plenty of fluids, Dress in comfortable clothes, Talk to your doctor about taking over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin (only for people ages 18 years or older), or antihistamines) Adverse events, including severe allergic reactions, after COVID-19 vaccination are rare but can happen. For this reason, everyone who receives a COVID-19 vaccine is monitored by their vaccination provider for at least 15 minutes. After leaving a vaccination provider site, if you think you or your child might be having a severe allergic reaction, seek immediate medical care by calling 911.