COVID-19 Information & Resources

COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Information

COVID-19 Clinics at NVHD, Thursdays 1:30-3:30pm

Upcoming clinics: March 9 & 23, 2023.   Schedule your appointment here!

Vaccination for Homebound Residents

• If you are an individual who is homebound due to physical restrictions, medical conditions, or other chronic physical or mental health conditions, and therefore cannot attend a community clinic, please fill out a homebound request form by visiting dphsubmissions.ct.gov/homebound or by calling nurse Kristie at (203) 881-3255 x107.

Did You Know?

Are there benefits to getting my kids vaccinated?                         

Yes! While children and adolescents are typically at a lower risk than adults of severe illness or hospitalization due to COVID-19, it is still a possibility; in fact, COVID-19 has become one of the top 10 causes of pediatric death, and tens of thousands of children and teens have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The vaccine is not only the best way to protect children from becoming severely ill, but also prevent long-term health issues frequently associated with COVID-19. 

Vaccines help prevent infectious diseases that once killed or seriously harmed many children. Without vaccines, your child is at risk for many serious illnesses, including COVID-19, measles, mumps, whooping cough and flu, which can lead to disability or even death. Medical and public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend that children aged 6 months and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect them from contracting and spreading the virus; in fact, immunizing your child protects others as much as it protects them! By lowering their chance of contracting the virus, you’re lowering the chance your child will infect their friends, relatives, and broader community.  

Here in the Valley, we know how difficult it is for parents when their child has to miss school or daycare due to contracting COVID-19; not only is it further impacting kids’ invaluable learning and socialization time, but it potentially puts financial strain on parents who have to miss work or arrange childcare. As of yet, there’s no way to avoid missing at least some learning time if your child tests positive for COVID-19; however, getting vaccinated greatly reduces your child’s risk of severe or long-lasting symptoms, meaning they’ll be back in school much sooner.  

It’s worth noting, too, that children in your household are likely exposed to a substantial number of strangers on a daily basis, due to the typical adolescent schedule that often includes school, a variety of sports and clubs, and other group activities. If vaccinated, your child is less likely to bring the virus into your home, and spread it to other, potentially immunocompromised family members. 

For more information please contact _______ at (203) 881-3255, ext ___.  

Updated Toolkit: Children and COVID-19 Vaccination – Public Health Communication Collaborative (publichealthcollaborative.org) 

If I’ve already had COVID, do I need the vaccine? 

Yes! You can, and should, get the vaccine if you were previously infected with COVID-19. The CDC recommends you get vaccinated even if you were previously infected with COVID-19 because you can catch it more than once; while you may have some short-term antibody protection after recovering from COVID-19 (typically, the time frame cited is 90 days post-infection), there is still some uncertainty over how long this protection truly lasts. People who do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to contract COVID-19 again than those who do get vaccinated after recovery. 

You can receive the vaccine any time after your symptoms resolve and you complete your recommended isolation period; however, you can choose to wait the noted above 90 days, as infection is unlikely to occur during that time.  

Something to consider if you’re holding off getting immunized due to already having had COVID-19 is the fact that both you and the virus are constantly changing. Your health may have changed in various ways since you last contracted COVID-19, meaning that it may not be as easy on your body the next time you potentially become infected. Likewise, COVID-19 itself is constantly evolving; as more people become vaccinated against the virus, it fights to stay alive by creating different versions of itself, commonly referred to as variants. Just because you caught one strain of the virus previously doesn’t mean you’ll be immune to the multiple other strains that currently exist in the community, or future ones to come.  

For more information please contact _______ at (203) 881-3255, ext ___.  

Do I need to get the vaccine if I already had COVID-19? (ct.gov) 

Does getting the vaccine give you COVID? 

No! Vaccines against COVID-19 cannot, and will not, give you COVID-19. None of the FDA-authorized vaccines developed in the U.S. contain the live coronavirus, meaning that it is impossible to contract COVID-19 from simply taking the vaccine. 

If you do test positive for COVID-19 shortly after getting the shot, it is likely infection occurred sometime before or during immunization; if infection happens around the time of vaccination, it is merely coincidence, and should be treated with the same level of caution as any other infection. Likewise, it is also possible to become infected with COVID-19 in the weeks following vaccination, as it usually takes around 14 days for your body to build immunity. 

Even though it doesn’t infect you with COVID-19, the vaccine can cause similar side effects, such as fever, sore muscles, body aches, or chills; these symptoms typically last only 24 hours, and are very common—in fact, they are a sign that the vaccine is working! 

For more information please contact _______ at (203) 881-3255, ext ___.  

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines-myth-versus-fact 

Is it safe to get the COVID vaccine if I’m pregnant? 

Yes! COVID-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy is safe, effective, and beneficial to both the pregnant person and the baby. The benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy. Below is a summary of the growing evidence: 

• COVID-19 vaccines do not cause COVID-19, as they do not contain the live virus; as a result, pregnant people and their babies are not at risk of contracting COVID-19 from vaccination 

• Data show that receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy reduces the risk of severe illness and other health effects from COVID-19 for people who are pregnant 
• Vaccination during pregnancy builds antibodies that can help protect the baby. Much like people who are not pregnant, when pregnant people receive an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, their bodies build antibodies against COVID-19. Antibodies made after pregnant people received a COVID-19 vaccine have been found in their baby’s umbilical cord blood; this means vaccination during pregnancy can help protect babies against COVID-19 by creating antibodies in utero.  

For more information, please contact _______ at (203) 881-3255, ext ___.  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html#anchor_1628692562866 

Will the COVID vaccine alter my DNA? 

No! In essence, COVID-19 vaccines work by teaching your body how to protect itself from the virus that causes COVID-19. This is accomplished by messenger ribonucleic acid, typically referred to as mRNA, delivering instructions (or genetic material) to your cells about how to build a certain protein; in the case of COVID-19, mRNA in the vaccine teaches your cells how to make copies of the spike protein, which is found on coronaviruses—including the one that causes COVID-19. If you become exposed to the real virus later on, your body will recognize the protein structure, attack, and eliminate it.  

The vaccine does not alter your DNA in any way, as it never enters the nucleus of your cells, which is where DNA is stored; in fact, the mRNA doesn’t even have the machinery needed to integrate its genetic material into your DNA. Furthermore, once the mRNA delivers the instructions on how to make spike proteins, your cells break it down and get rid of it.  

For more information, please contact _______ at (203) 881-3255, ext ___.  

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html 

 For more FAQs, visit CDC.