Vaccine effectiveness

Jamaica has embarked on a COVID-19 vaccination blitz.

It is important to note the following:

• All COVID-19 vaccines currently available are effective at preventing COVID-19.

• COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool to help stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

• COVID-19 vaccines help protect people who get vaccinated from getting sick or severely ill with COVID-19, and may also help protect people around them.

• The CDC recommends that you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon one is available to you.

• Experts continue to monitor and evaluate how COVID-19 vaccination may affect the severity of illness from COVID-19, as well as its ability to keep people from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.

• All COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID-19. It typically takes about two weeks for the body to build protection after vaccination. That means it is possible you could still get COVID-19 soon after inoculation. This is because your body has not had enough time to build full protection.

• Some people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will still get sick because the vaccines are not 100 percent effective against COVID-19 illness.

• Based on data from clinical studies, COVID-19 vaccine may also help keep you from getting seriously ill, even if you do get COVID-19.

Source: www.cdc.gov

How to protect yourself and others when you have been fully vaccinated

We are still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions, like wearing a mask, staying six feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces in public places, until more is known.

These recommendations can help you make decisions about daily activities after you are fully vaccinated. They are not intended for healthcare settings.

People are considered fully inoculated:

• Two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna vaccines; or

• Two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine;

• If you don’t meet these requirements, you are not fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.

Source: World Health Organization