• Common Symptoms

• Cough

• Fever or Chills

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fatigue

• Muscle or Body Aches

• Headache

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Congestion or a runny nose

• Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Watch for emergency warning signs for COVID-19. If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms seek emergency medical care immediately:

• Trouble breathing

• New confusion

• Persistent pain or pressure in the chest

• Inability to wake or stay awake 

• Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds depending on skin tone

• Note: Symptoms may appear as early as two days after exposure to COVID-19 up to 14 days.
• Conjunctivitis this is a symptom of a new variant Arcturus

• • Wear a high-quality mask or respirator (e.g., N95) any time you are around others inside your home or indoors in public 1
  • Take extra precautions if you will be around people who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19
  • Watch for the following symptoms: 
    • Fever
    • Cough 
    • Shortness of breath

  Make sure to test. If you have symptoms and test negative, continue to test for 5 days.

Before Your Appointment

Taking over-the-counter medicine, like ibuprofen, aspirin, antihistamines, or acetaminophen, is NOT recommended before vaccination because it is unknown how these medications interact with the COVID-19 vaccine.

If you get any other vaccine first, including a flu or shingles vaccine, wait at least 14 days before getting your COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, you should wait at least 14 days before getting any other vaccine after you get your COVID-19 vaccine.

If you do get a COVID-19 vaccine within 14 days of another vaccine, you do not need to be revaccinated with either vaccine. You should still complete both vaccine series on schedule.

When You Arrive For Your Appointment

Different vaccination sites may have slightly different procedures, but you will likely be checked in first.

Documentation is NOT required to be vaccinated. Vaccine sites may request documentation, but you are not required to have it to receive the vaccine. Points of dispensing must not ask for your immigration status.

You can expect to be asked demographic, occupational, and medical screening questions. Your name, address, date of birth, race, ethnicity, and gender will be securely stored in the New Jersey Immunization Information System.

These are standard data elements that have been used across vaccines administered in New Jersey. Any data collected for the COVID-19 vaccination program may only be used for public health purposes – not for civil, criminal, nor immigration enforcement.

Note: If you are uninsured, you can still receive a vaccine. The vaccine is free – there is no cost to you. Learn more about insurance coverage for COVID-19 vaccines here.

Accommodations For Individuals With Disabilities

Both COVID-19 vaccine mega sites and community-based sites have been designed to meet the needs of all residents in the state. All of these sites are ADA-compliant, and special arrangements are made for those with mobility issues.

In addition, because of the volume of individuals and size of the mega sites, many accommodations have been made to make them easier to navigate for individuals with disabilities.

All six vaccine megasites have quiet rooms to make the process less overwhelming for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who may be more sensitive to noise, light, and crowds. For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, there is a sign language interpreter that is immediately accessible via FaceTime and one rotates between the megasites.

All of the vaccination mega sites have made accommodations for a wide-range of disabilities.

Scheduling Your Second Dose

If you are receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, you will need to schedule a second appointment to receive your second dose to have maximum protection against the virus.

Your second dose appointment should be scheduled at the same location where you got your first dose.

If you made your first dose appointment through the NJ Vaccine Scheduling System, you will receive an automatically scheduled second dose appointment and an email confirmation with the details of the second dose appointment.

If you received your first dose by booking directly with a vaccine clinic and did not use the NJ Vaccine Scheduling System, vaccination sites have been instructed to schedule your second dose appointment during your first appointment.

For more information about booking your second dose, refer to this article.

Note: Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine only requires a single dose. You do not need to get a second dose of the Janssen vaccine.

When You Get Vaccinated

You will receive a vaccination card or printout that tells you what COVID-19 vaccine you received, the date you received it, and where you received it.

You will receive a paper or electronic version of a fact sheet that tells you more about the specific COVID-19 vaccine you are being offered. Each authorized COVID-19 vaccine has its own fact sheet that contains information to help you understand the risks and benefits of receiving that specific vaccine.

For more safety information about the vaccines and fact sheets, refer to this article.

After Getting Vaccinated

After receiving an injection of a COVID-19 vaccine, you will be observed for 15 minutes by healthcare staff to monitor any side effects. Observation may be longer (30 minutes) if you have a history of anaphylaxis.

Like many vaccines, a COVID-19 vaccine may cause some temporary discomfort. You may have some side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building protection.

In addition to a sore arm, side effects of the vaccines may include tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, fever, injection site swelling, injection site redness, nausea, feeling unwell, and swollen lymph nodes.

There is a small chance that vaccines could cause a severe allergic reaction. A severe allergic reaction would usually occur within a few minutes to one hour, which is why all individuals should be observed for at least 15 minutes after vaccination and 30 minutes if they have a history of a severe allergic reaction due to any cause.

If you have pain or discomfort, talk to your doctor about taking over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen, aspirin, antihistamines, or acetaminophen, for any pain and discomfort you may experience after getting vaccinated. You can take these medications to relieve post-vaccination side effects if you have no other medical reasons that prevent you from taking these medications normally.

In most cases, discomfort from fever or pain is normal and should go away in a few days. Contact your doctor or healthcare provider:

• If the redness or tenderness where you got the shot increases after 24 hours
• If your side effects are worrying you or do not seem to be going away after a few days

• Per CDC guidelines, people with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if you are asymptomatic or symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), wear a k95 mask for 5 days when around others to minimize the risk of infecting others. 
• If you have difficulty breathing, chest pain, or sudden dizziness go to the hospital or call 911 
• Milder symptoms such as cough, headache, sore throat can be treated with over the counter cold and pain medications.

• PAXLOVID is an antiviral treatment. Antiviral treatments target specific parts of the virus to stop it from multiplying in the body, helping to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death
• Paxlovid is for adults and children 12 and older who are at higher risk for developing serious COVID-19 disease that may lead to hospitalization and/or death. 
• Paxlovid should be considered for any patients who meet the following criteria:

• Have a current diagnosis of mild-to-moderate COVID-19
• 50 years of age and over with underlying conditions. Underlying conditions include not but limited to:
  • Asthma
  • Cancer
  • Kidney disease
• Within 5 days of symptom onset and have one or more risk factors for severe COVID. Risk factors include: 
  • Age 
  • Race and ethnicity 
  • An underlying condition such as those mentioned above

Some treatments might have side effects or interact with other medications you are taking. Ask a healthcare provider if medications to treat COVID-19 are right for you.

• COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying. As with other vaccine-preventable diseases, you are protected best from COVID-19 when you stay up to date with the recommended vaccinations. 

  • CDC recommends everyone stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines for their age group:
  • Children and teens aged 6 months–17 years
  • Adults aged 18 years and older
  
  

  Boosters (Original)Boosters are an important part of protecting yourself from getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19. They were developed to protect against the original virus and offer some protection against the omicron variant. People ages 6 months and older should receive a booster if they are eligible, including those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised. 

  
  

  Bivalent (Updated) Booster 

  The updated boosters are called “updated” because they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. They became available on: 

  • September 2, 2022, for people aged 12 years and older
  • October 12, 2022, for people aged 5–11 years
  • December 9, 2022, for children aged 6 months–4 years who completed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine primary series
  • March 17, 2023, for children aged 6 months–4 years who completed their 3-dose primary series with the original Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
  You are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines when you have completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series and got the most recent booster dose

COVID-19 Boosters and Third Doses

Wear a K95 or K94 mask in crowded spaces

• Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to get an updated COVID-19 bivalent vaccine or booster dose if it has been at least two months since your primary series.