John,

There’s been a lot of uncertainty and confusion around Trump’s CDC and its recommendations about updated COVID vaccines. I wanted to send you more information to clear things up.

Despite right-wing influence, the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) fortunately recommended updated COVID vaccines for everyone 6 months and older under “shared clinical decision-making” (meaning in consultation with providers such as pharmacists, nurses, or doctors). You do not need a prescription or a doctor’s visit: In all 50 states, pharmacists can administer ACIP-recommended vaccines, so you should be able to get vaccinated at your local pharmacy!

You can search for multiple types of vaccines at pharmacies near you and schedule an appointment at https://www.vaxassist.com/schedule/brand/covid_19.

Your pharmacist or other providers administering the vaccine may ask if you have an underlying condition that puts you at high risk for severe outcomes from a COVID infection. You can self-attest if you do—and generally you won’t be asked to specify which.

Anyone who’s already had COVID is at higher risk, because each COVID infection can weaken the immune system, and because the risk of long COVID doubles after a second infection.¹ The CDC’s list of risk factors includes not being up-to-date on COVID vaccines, having anxiety or depression, having disabilities including neurodivergence, physical inactivity, being overweight, having been pregnant or being currently pregnant, and more.

Thanks to the ACIP’s latest recommendations, COVID vaccines are still covered financially under private insurance plans, Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP.

If you don’t have health insurance, or you’re having trouble confirming coverage with your insurance provider, there are many community clinics that provide COVID vaccines on a sliding scale or for free. To find nearby options, try Googling “community clinics that provide covid vaccines for free near me” or something similar.

If you’re wondering which type of vaccine to get, there are two updates that may be helpful:

• Moderna is offering a new option called MNexSpike, which is supposed to be even more effective than the alternative SpikeVax. While SpikeVax can be taken by children 6 months and up, MNexSpike is only available for people 12 years or older. Ask your pharmacy which types they carry.

• If you’ve gotten bad side effects from the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA-type vaccines, you may want to try a Novavax vaccine, which is available in many pharmacies and tends to have a lower risk of side effects. (And for people who can get an mRNA vaccine, Novavax says that it may be extra protective for people to get a Novavax vaccine two months after an mRNA vaccine.)

Vaccines help reduce the risk of long COVID and reduce the chances of severe outcomes or hospitalizations during the acute phase of infection, when you’re actively infectious and testing positive.

With hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases each day in the United States, this is still a very important method of protection.² Vaccines’ protections wane over time, however, so it’s important to get a booster at least once a year.

And because vaccines don’t necessarily prevent infection, many people take additional steps to reduce their risk of getting infected in the first place.

COVID is an airborne virus that lingers in the air like smoke, so effective protection options include wearing well-fitting KN95 or N95 masks when inside public places or when in crowds outdoors, opening windows and increasing indoor ventilation, gathering outdoors or virtually, and using air purifiers. Many people don’t know this, but COVID can spread outdoors. Some people who don’t already wear glasses also choose to wear non-prescription glasses for extra eye protection, since we can get COVID through our mouth, nose, and eyes.

If you do test positive for COVID, there are a few primary ways to reduce your risk of developing long COVID: getting a lot of physical and cognitive rest, and taking a temporary dose of either Paxlovid or metformin (or both).

The sooner you can get Paxlovid or metformin after testing positive, the more effective these treatments will be. However, you’ll need a prescription. Many people don’t have the ability to access doctors quickly, so if you don’t have a primary care doctor or if you have trouble hearing back from your doctor in time, there are some websites where you can request prescriptions.

Possibilities to check out include https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/rthm/store-start for metformin, or for Paxlovid https://drb.ai/covid, https://www.teladochealth.com, or https://telmdfirst.com/paxlovid-covid-prescription. If you need help covering the cost of Paxlovid, you can visit https://www.paxlovid.com/paxcess.

Also, if you’re testing positive, you’re infectious and can infect others. Protect people in your household who may not yet be infected by wearing an N95 mask around them or isolating from them. If you have to leave your house, wear a well-fitting mask to protect others.

About half of all COVID infections are asymptomatic, meaning people don’t have symptoms. That’s why it’s helpful to test regularly if possible. If you have symptoms but your test results are negative, you may want to test again in a few days or for multiple days in a row—because rapid tests sometimes miss infections, and because it can take a few days after symptoms start for an infection to show up on a rapid test.

Thank you for taking care of your health and your community.

I promise to continue fighting in Congress for a stronger social safety net and affordable healthcare for all. That includes reversing Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies, but we can’t just go back to what we had. I’ll keep advocating for free universal healthcare, which is what the majority of Americans want and deserve.

With you in the fight for a better future,

Rashida

¹ The Lancet’s new study: Long COVID associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among children and adolescents
² Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard