Yes, CHC is currently administering the latest COVID-19 bivalent boosters for anyone ages 5 and older who have completed their COVID-19 primary vaccination series. For more information on boosters, see the CDC’s Information on booster doses. 

You can take medications at home that are safe and effective for treating COVID-19, and they are free and widely available. Treatments must be taken within 5–7 days of symptoms first showing, so act fast if you start to feel symptoms. If you get COVID-19, these medications can stop the illness from getting severe, can help you test negative sooner, and may reduce the risk of long COVID symptoms. 

As soon as you feel sick, get a COVID-19 test and contact CHC, or call the statewide COVID-19 hotline at 833-422-4255 to find treatment. Learn more by visiting: covid19.ca.gov/treatment/. 

The CDC has created their Isolation & Quarantine calculator tool to help determine how long you may need to isolate, quarantine, or take other precautions to prevent spreading COVID-19 – GET STARTED with it here.

You can get a 4th dose (or 2nd booster) if you:

• • • Are an adult aged 50 years and older and received your first booster at least 4 months ago.
    • Are age 12 or older with a moderately or severely immunocompromised condition and received your first booster at least 4 months ago.
    • Are aged 18-49 years and received Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine for your first shot or booster at least 4 months ago.

You can read and learn more, plus see the newest FDA & CDC guidelines on this update page.

Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant. However, breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated are likely to occur. With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters.

COVID-19 boosters are used when someone age 18 or older has finished receiving their original vaccine series and their protection against the virus may have weakened over time. Please talk to your health care provider if you have any questions regarding your booster. Boosters are usually half of the original dose.

An additional (or third) dose is administered to people with moderately to severely immunocompromised conditions. This additional dose is intended to improve at-risk people’s responses to their initial vaccine series. Depending on the original series given, your recommended dose will vary.

Yes, research has shown that vaccination helps protect you even if you’ve already had COVID-19. Some evidence is showing that people get better protection by being fully vaccinated compared  to just having recovered from a COVID-19 infection. One study showed that unvaccinated people who already had COVID-19 are more than 2 times as likely than fully vaccinated people to get COVID-19 again.

Yes, we must all continue to take the recommended safety precautions to protect ourselves and others. This includes covering the mouth and nose with a face mask, frequent hand washing, & social distancing at least 6 feet – even by those who have received their COVID vaccines. The current vaccines help your body to learn to fight against a possible COVID infection, intended to help reduce severity of any possible symptoms. All COVID-19 vaccines will not stop you from contracting the Coronavirus and they will not stop you from spreading it to others if you come in contact with the virus. Please continue to practice all COVID safety measures per the CDC.

If you are sick, please call 1 (866) 614-4636 BEFORE coming to any of our clinics. We will advise you on the best way to receive the care you need without compromising your health, the health of other patients, and our staff.

Delta is currently the predominant variant of the virus in the USA. It has shown to be more contagious and spreads significantly quicker from person to person than previous variants of COVID-19. Some data shows that the Delta variant may be more harmful to unvaccinated people. It may cause more severe illness than previous variants in people who do not get their vaccines. Some fully vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant (called a breakthrough infection) can still spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to spread the virus for a shorter time. So masks are still required in indoor areas within Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.

Not at all, COVID-19 vaccines will not make your body magnetic. All of the COVID-19 vaccines are free from any metals and do not contain any ingredients that could create electromagnetic fields. The site of the vaccine injection on your body, usually your arm, will not become magnetic. The COVID-19 vaccines will not cause magnets or metals to stick to your body. 

The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is now the most common COVID-19 variant in the USA. Nearly twice as contagious as earlier variants and might cause more severe illness. While some research claims that COVID-19 vaccines may be slightly less effective against the latest variants, the vaccines still appear to provide protection against severe COVID-19 symptoms and, in most cases, prevent hospitalization from COVID complications.

All of the COVID-19 vaccines currently used in the United States DO NOT CONTAIN any live viruses or deactivated Coronavirus cells. While there are several different vaccines under development, each of them is created to teach your immune system how to recognize and build defenses against the COVID-19 virus. After receiving the vaccine, many people may show some short-term symptoms such as a fever or fatigue. These are signs that the vaccine is triggering an immune response as it learns to detect and fight the Coronavirus. These typically last only a day or two.

COVID vaccines DO NOT CONTAIN any microchips and will not place any electronic or trackable components into your body.

The current COVID vaccines in use will not cause you to test positive on a viral test that checks for a current infection. If your body develops the possible and expected immune response, the intended goal of vaccination, you may possibly show up as positive on some antibody tests. Positive antibody tests could indicate that you had a previous infection and that you may have some protection against the Coronavirus. Scientists and experts are currently looking into how COVID-19 vaccinations affect antibody-test results.