COVID-19 vaccines at VA
We offer COVID-19 vaccines to eligible Veterans at no cost. Find out how to get your COVID-19 vaccine at VA. And get the latest VA vaccine updates and answers to common questions.
Latest updates: September 9, 2024
New guidance for 2024-2025 vaccines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults get an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine. Before you go to a VA health facility to get a COVID-19 vaccine, call to make sure the facility has the vaccine you want.
Guidance for adults who have had a COVID-19 vaccine before
Get 1 dose of a 2024-2025 vaccine (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Novavax). If you’re age 65 or older but you’re not moderately to severely immunocompromised, CDC no longer recommends additional vaccine doses.
Guidance for adults who have never had a COVID-19 vaccine before
If you’ve never had a COVID-19 vaccine before, choose one of these options:
- Get 1 dose of the 2024-2025 Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, or
- Get 2 doses of the 2024-2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine at least 3 weeks apart
Guidance for adults with certain health conditions that weaken your immune system
If you have had a COVID-19 vaccine before, get 1 dose of the 2024-2025 Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Novavax vaccine. You may also be eligible to get additional doses of one of these vaccines. Ask your provider how many doses they recommend for you.
If you’ve never had a COVID-19 vaccine before, choose one of these options:
- Get 3 doses of the 2024-2025 Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, or
- Get 2 doses of the 2024-2025 Novavax vaccine
Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA
We offer free COVID-19 vaccines to all Veterans enrolled in VA health care. This includes Veterans who live or travel outside of the U.S. and are eligible for the VA Foreign Medical Program.
More information about who can get a vaccine
Can I get a COVID-19 vaccine if I’m pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding?
Yes. The CDC and other experts strongly recommend that people who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Pregnant people are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Severe illness may mean having to go to the hospital, needing a ventilator to breathe, or having an illness that results in death. Pregnant people also have an increased risk of preterm birth.
COVID-19 vaccines can help protect you from COVID-19. And experts believe that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy or breastfeeding
Should I get a COVID-19 vaccine if I’ve already had COVID-19?
Yes. Data from clinical trials show that the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe in people who’ve been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 in the past.
If you’re currently sick from COVID-19, you should wait until you’ve recovered and you’re finished with isolation to get a vaccine. Talk with your health care provider about when you should get a COVID-19 vaccine if you recently had COVID. Some people may consider delaying a COVID-19 vaccine for 3 months after COVID-19 infection.
Can I get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time?
Yes. You can get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time. Here’s what the CDC recommends:
- If you haven’t gotten your currently recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can.
- Try to get a flu vaccine by the end of October. A flu shot is an essential part of protecting your health and your family’s health every year.
Note: Only Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care can get flu shots at VA health facilities. Call before you come in to make sure the facility has both vaccines.
Learn more about flu and COVID-19 vaccines on the CDC website
How to get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA
We encourage you to stay up to date with all of your recommended vaccines. It’s the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community against COVID-19. This is especially important as new forms (or “variants”) of the coronavirus spread more quickly in the U.S.
How to get your COVID-19 vaccine
We offer COVID-19 vaccines to all Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care and eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine based on CDC recommendations.
- Find a VA health facility that offers walk-in hours at their COVID-19 vaccine clinic. Not all facilities offer walk-in hours. Be sure to check the facility’s website for walk-in hours before you go. When you arrive, you may need to wait for the staff to prepare your vaccine.
- Or call a VA health facility that offers COVID-19 vaccines to schedule an appointment. Our staff will help you find a time that’s convenient for you.
Here’s what to know before you arrive:
- Not all VA health facilities have all vaccines right now. And facilities may offer different vaccines at different times. Confirm that the facility has the vaccine you want before you come in to get your vaccine.
- We may ask you to wear a mask and complete our COVID-19 symptom screening.
More information about getting your vaccine at VA
It’s always your choice if you want to get a vaccine or not. Your decision won’t affect your VA health care or any of your VA benefits in any way.
If you have questions before you decide to get your vaccine:
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy or breastfeeding
Before you get your vaccine
Where we offer COVID-19 vaccines
VA health facilities
We offer COVID-19 vaccines at many VA health facilities and clinics. Simply find a facility that offers the vaccine you need.
To learn about your facility’s current plan, go to the facility’s website. Once you’re on the site, go to Health care services, then COVID-19 in the menu.
Find your nearest VA facility that offers COVID-19 vaccines
Community care facilities
Urgent care locations and retail pharmacies in our community care network also offer COVID-19 vaccines to Veterans. These locations follow their local, state, or territory vaccine plans. Veterans don’t receive priority over others seeking vaccines at these locations.
If you’re enrolled in VA health care and you go to a community care location to get a COVID-19 vaccine, download our pharmacy billing information card (PDF). Show the card to the provider before you get your vaccine. Eligible Veterans can get COVID-19 vaccines free of charge at community care locations.
Download our pharmacy billing information card (PDF)
Learn more about how to get a COVID-19 vaccine from a community provider
We encourage you to take the first opportunity you have to get a vaccine at the most convenient location for you.
Find other vaccine providers near you on the CDC vaccine finder website
How we contact Veterans about getting a vaccine
If you’re currently receiving care at VA, your local VA health facility may contact you by phone, email, or text message. If you’re eligible and want to get a vaccine, we encourage you to respond.
But before you provide any personal information or click on any links, be sure the call, email, or text is really from VA.
- Text messages will always come from 80728.
- Emails will always come from a va.gov email address.
- If someone calls you from VA and you don’t recognize the phone number, ask for a number to call them back. Then call your local VA health facility to verify.
Your facility may invite you to get a vaccine in different ways:
- They may invite you to a large vaccination event, like a drive-thru clinic.
- They may offer you a specific date and time to get a vaccine.
- They may ask you to schedule an appointment.
What to tell your health care provider before you get a COVID-19 vaccine
Before you get a vaccine, tell the provider giving you the vaccine about all your health conditions. Be sure to tell your provider if any of the below are true for you:
- You have any allergies
- You have a fever
- You have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner
- You have a condition that weakens your immune system and makes you immunocompromised (like cancer, HIV, an organ transplant, or a genetic immune deficiency)
- You’re taking a medicine that affects your immune system (like chemotherapy or corticosteroids)
- You’re pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding
- You’ve received another COVID-19 vaccine
If you’ve had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredients in a COVID-19 vaccine, you shouldn’t get the same COVID-19 vaccine again. But you may be able to receive a different type of COVID-19 vaccine.
Go to the CDC website to learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and allergic reactions
Currently available COVID-19 vaccines
These are the currently available COVID-19 vaccines that are approved and authorized by FDA for public use:
- The updated 2024-2025 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
- The updated 2024-2025 Moderna vaccine
- The updated 2024-2025 Novavax vaccine
Note: The Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine is no longer available in the U.S. All doses of the 2023–2024 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine have now expired. This vaccine remains authorized but is no longer available in the United States. CDC does not recommend this vaccine as an option at this time.
After you get your vaccine
What to expect after you get a COVID-19 vaccine
You may have some side effects after you get a COVID-19 vaccine. Side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection against COVID-19.
These side effects may feel like the flu. They may even affect your ability to work or do other daily activities. But any side effects should go away in a few days.
Some people have reported severe allergic reactions to a COVID-19 vaccine. When you get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA, we may closely monitor your reaction for either 15 or 30 minutes after your vaccine. We’ll also give you information about what to do if you experience any side effects.
Learn more about what to expect after a COVID-19 vaccine on the CDC website
How we monitor vaccine safety
Millions of people in the United States have now received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history. Many people have reported only mild side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Serious side effects are rare.
A small number of people have had a severe allergic reaction (called “anaphylaxis”) after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. But this is rare. After you get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA, we may monitor you for 15 to 30 minutes. If you do have a reaction, we have medicines to effectively treat it right away.
Continued monitoring
Tell your VA health care team if you experience any COVID-19 vaccine reactions, side effects, or adverse events. An adverse event is an injury or harm that happens to someone after they receive a vaccine, which may or may not have been caused by the vaccine.
We’ll report this information in our vaccine monitoring and tracking system. This is the same system we use to monitor reactions to all vaccines, including those for the flu and shingles.
To get more information about COVID-19 vaccine safety in different languages, go to the CDC website:
How we use and store information about your vaccine status
When you get your COVID-19 vaccine, we’ll add this information to your VA health record. It’s your choice if you want to get a vaccine. Your decision won’t affect your VA health care or other benefits and services in any way.
Within VA, we use vaccine status information for several reasons:
- To help with individual Veterans’ care
- To reach out to Veterans who might still need a vaccine
- To find places or groups of Veterans with low vaccination rates so we can provide more information and vaccine clinics
You can get a copy of your VA COVID-19 vaccine records through the My HealtheVet website or on your mobile device.
Find out how to get your VA COVID-19 vaccine records online
We’ll share the same information with the CDC that we share for other vaccines. This includes the following information:
- Demographic information (like age, gender, race, and ethnicity) that helps the CDC understand which groups of people are receiving the vaccine
- Adverse reactions to the vaccine
We won’t share names or street addresses.
What to do if you get a COVID-19 vaccine outside of VA
It’s your choice where you’d like to go to get a vaccine.
If you got some doses outside of VA, you can still get any remaining doses that are recommended for you here.
If you decide to get a COVID-19 vaccine outside of VA, we encourage you to share this information with your VA health care team.
You can also add your vaccine information to your My HealtheVet health summary for your own records. To add your information, you’ll need a Premium My HealtheVet account.
Learn more about managing your COVID-19 vaccine records online
Find out how to get your VA COVID-19 vaccine records online
If you have more questions about COVID-19 vaccines at VA, call our MyVA411 main information line at 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711).
More helpful resources
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Get the latest updates on how the COVID-19 pandemic may affect your VA benefits and services.
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Visit your local VA medical center website to learn more about COVID-19 vaccine preparation.
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Read more about our public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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As one of the nation’s leaders in health research, we’re working to continue to find ways to prevent and treat COVID-19. Find out how you can be part of these efforts and what to expect if you volunteer.
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Start your application for VA health care now.
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Find out how to get COVID-19 diagnostic lab tests and self-test kits through VA.