COVID-19 Vaccines and the Benefits of Getting Vaccinated

1. Getting vaccinated will help
keep you from getting COVID-19.

All the currently available vaccines
have been shown to be highly effective

at preventing the disease.

As an additional benefit,

based on what we know about vaccines
from other diseases

and early data from clinical trials

experts believe that getting vaccinated

may also help keep you from
getting seriously ill

even if you do get COVID-19,

and if that's not enough,

getting vaccinated yourself
may also protect people around you

particularly, people at increased risk
for severe illness

like the elderly, and immunocompromised.

2. Vaccination is a safer way
to help build protection.

Getting COVID-19

may offer some natural protection
known as immunity.

But gaining immunity this way can have
serious life-threatening complications.

There's also no way to know
how COVID-19 will affect you

and if you get sick

you could end up spreading the disease

to your friends, family,
and others around you.

So vaccination is an alternative
way to gain immunity

by creating an antibody response
without having to experience sickness.

Vaccination will be an important
tool to help stop the pandemic.

Wearing masks and social distancing

help reduce your chance of being exposed
to the virus or spreading it to others,

but these measures are not enough.

Stopping a pandemic requires
using all the tools we have available.

To learn more,
visit: cdc.gov/coronavirus.