ALL updated COVID-19 vaccines are effective against new variants
The 2024—2025 COVID-19 vaccines provide strong protection against circulating variants.
The 2024—2025 COVID-19 vaccines provide strong protection against circulating variants.The holiday season should be a time of spreading joy, not germs. Whether you’re giving thanks or a thoughtful gift, it’s important to take preventative measures to reduce the spread of illness this respiratory disease season, including staying home when sick, improving air circulation, and getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19.
For the fall and winter seasons, CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older should get a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine. The updated COVID-19 vaccines are safe and prevent serious illness and complications. Even with the vaccine, you CAN still get sick with COVID-19; however, staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccination significantly lowers your risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. Vaccines for COVID-19 are updated yearly to protect against circulating COVID-19 virus variants, so you need a vaccine every year.
COVID-19 is a rapidly changing virus
Even though the public health emergency has ended, COVID-19 still circulates in our communities. As it spreads, the virus changes over time, just like the viruses that cause flu and the common cold. Over time, these changes can lead to new strains, or variants, of the virus. These variants may have new characteristics that can change how the virus behaves. A new variant of a virus may be better at spreading, evading the immune system, or alter the severity of illness, making the disease either more mild or serious.
COVID-19 lingers in our communities year-round, providing more opportunities for new variants to emerge. Not all variants are notable enough to cause concern, but some can gain enough traction to produce waves of illness in communities. COVID-19 may peak at any time of the year, but typically causes more disease in the winter months, so it’s important to stay current on COVID-19 vaccinations before these waves to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines are updated regularly
To provide effective protection against new variants, COVID-19 vaccines are updated each year for the fall and winter months. Before being recommended to the public, the vaccines are approved and authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after evaluating all the available data on which strains are circulating, infecting people, and causing severe illness. For the fall and winter seasons, the CDC recommended the updated 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines to protect against severe COVID-19. The recommendations are:
- Everyone 6 months and older should get one dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine
- People age 65 and older should get a second dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine, 6 months after the first dose
- People with a weakened immune system should get a second dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine, 6 months after the first dose, and may get additional doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccine if recommended by their doctor
There are currently 3 brands of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S.: the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA), the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA), and the Novavax protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are recommended for everyone 6 months and older, while the Novavax vaccine is for people 12 years and older. All of these vaccines are effective against current COVID-19 variants.
Find what 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine your pharmacy has available HERE.
COVID-19 vaccines save lives
COVID-19 is more than “just a bad cold.” Infection with COVID-19 can be deadly or cause serious acute and long-term complications, like pneumonia, blood clots, and a chronic condition called Long COVID. Vaccination is the best way to protect you and your loved ones from severe COVID-19. Among those who were hospitalized with COVID-19, most were not up to date on COVID-19 vaccination. While no vaccine provides complete protection, COVID-19 vaccines reduce the severity of illness and the chance of spreading this disease.
As the holiday season approaches, give your loved ones the gift of protection by getting vaccinated two weeks before social gatherings. To make sure you’re fully protected against COVID-19, check out the CDC’s webpage, Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines.
Still have questions? Find answers to commonly asked COVID-19 questions HERE.
Viral rumors are also going around this season
Fall and winter bring a surge in respiratory viruses like flu, COVID-19, RSV, and the common cold—and plenty of misinformation. Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) is here to help with our new Viral Mythbusting Campaign! Get the facts, debunk the myths, and stay informed. Check back weekly for new blog posts tackling the latest viral rumors, and learn how to protect your family and community this season!
You can participate in our Viral Mythbusting Campaign by sharing the importance of busting respiratory disease myths on your social media platforms. VYF offers a free downloadable toolkit that follows an evidence-based format for combatting misinformation: lead with the fact, warn about the myth, explain how the myth misleads, and finish with the fact. Sometimes called a “truth sandwich,” this is a proven way to address respiratory rumors.
To join:
- Visit our campaign webpage
- Access our campaign toolkit
- Share any time during this respiratory disease season
- Use hashtag #ViralTruths and tag @vaccinateyourfamily on IG and FB, @vaxyourfam on X so we can amplify your posts!
To find drafted COVID-19 myths social copy and downloadable graphics, click HERE.
Additional Resources
VYF provides up-to-date information on vaccine safety and access on our website. View our current programs to learn more about our services and ways to get involved.
For more information: