COVID-19 Vaccine
The COVID-19 vaccine is very safe. It will prevent you from getting sick with COVID-19. All Health Services patients will receive the vaccine for free.
All patients over the age of 12 can get the COVID-19 vaccine now.
We are giving the Pfizer, Moderna the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccines. For more information about the Johnson& Johnson vaccine, click here.
Online: Make your appointment online, using the MyWellness Patient Portal, click here for more information on how to schedule your COVID vaccine and access your vaccination record using the portal. If you don’t have an account, click here, to make one.
Phone: Call your clinic or 844-804-0055, press Option 2.
Learn more about the COVID vaccine here.
Dr. Josh Beverly writes for the LA Sentinel on the importance of the COVID vaccine for the Black community. “I am well aware of how the actions of the medical field against the Black community have led and continue to lead to distrust… But right now we are the ones dying.” Click here to read more.
As a newly minted physician training at a county hospital during a pandemic, I have seen things that I cannot unsee. In December, I performed chest compressions for the first time on a Black man who was intubated in the COVID ICU. It was a short code, and he did not survive. Click here to read more.
The COVID-19 vaccines are being held to the same safety standards as all vaccines. These shots were tested in tens of thousands of adults from different backgrounds, which include older adults and communities of color. In the studies, the COVID-19 vaccine has shown to help prevent getting you sick from COVID-19.
Learn how the federal government is working to make sure COVID-19 vaccines are safe.
To make sure the COVID-19 vaccine meets safety requirements, California made a Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. The workgroup gives recommendations to leaders in California and gives confidence to the public that the vaccine is safe.
For more information about the vaccine, please visit the LA County Department of Public Health.
The vaccine is free to everyone, including our patients.
After getting the vaccine, people can feel normal side effects, like a sore arm, low fever, headache and chills. These are normal signs that your body is building protection. Don’t worry — they should go away within a few days.
Health Services has a COVID-19 Nurse Advice Call Line: 844-804-0055. It’s available from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., 7 days per week.
You will get a white CDC vaccination card as proof after getting your COVID-19 vaccine at a DHS clinic. Three other ways you can get proof of your vaccine are:
- Log in to MyWellness patient portal to view a copy of your vaccination record. Click here for more information.
- Request a digital record through the Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record (ca.gov) and through LA County’s partner – Healthvana
- Call your clinic to request a printout of your vaccine record.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have two shots. For the Pfizer vaccine, you should get them at about 21 days apart and for the Moderna at about 28 days apart. The Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) is only 1 shot.
It is very important to get both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine if you receive the Pfizer or Moderna shot. Your body will not build the protection it needs if you do not get the second dose. Make sure you get your second dose at the place where you got your first dose. Be sure to bring your vaccination card with you. If you have questions about your second dose, call your clinic.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and LA County Department of Public Health recommend for people with a weak immune system to receive an extra shot 28 days after getting their second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
This includes people who have:
- Been getting regular cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
- Had an organ transplant and are taking medicine to lower the natural defense of their immune system
- Had a stem cell transplant within the last 2 years or are taking medicine to lower the natural defense of their immune system
- Moderate or severe immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
- Advanced or untreated HIV infection
- Regular treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may lower their immune system natural defense
- Call your clinic or
- Send a message to your provider through the My Wellness Patient Portal.
This 3rd shot is to improve people’s immune system response to their 2nd dose series. This is not the same as a booster shot, which is given to people when the immune response to a vaccine series has decreased over time.
Booster shots are recommended 6 months after the second shot to keep protection levels high. Studies show that the protection against the more contagious Delta variant may get weaker over time. See the CDC website for more information.
People who may get a Pfizer/BioNTech booster must be:
- 65 years or older, or
- 18 years or older with underlying medical conditions, or
- 18 years or older and work in a setting that puts them at higher risk for getting and spreading COVID-19, or
- 18 years or older with a higher risk for social inequities (factors that affect health and quality of life)
You may also consider getting a booster if you:
- Are 18-49 and have an underlying medical condition, or
- Are 18-64 and work or live in a high-risk setting (like a shelter)
- The CDC defines high-risk jobs as:
- First responders (healthcare workers, firefighters, police, congregate care staff)
- Education staff (teachers, support staff, daycare workers)
- Food and agriculture workers
- Manufacturing workers
- Corrections workers
- U.S. Postal Service workers
- Public transit workers
- Grocery store workers
- The CDC defines high-risk jobs as:
For more information on the CDC’s recommendation, click here.
