Coronavirus

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

This list does not include all possible symptoms. CDC will continue to update this list as we learn more about COVID-19.

Look for emergency warning signs* for COVID-19. If someone is showing any of these signs, seek emergency medical care immediately:

*This list is not all possible symptoms. Please call your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you. Call 911 or call ahead to your local emergency facility: Notify the operator that you are seeking care for someone who has or may have COVID-19.

COVID-19 is primarily transmitted from person-to-person through respiratory droplets. These droplets are released when someone with COVID-19 sneezes, coughs, or talks. Infectious droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

Wear a mask

• If someone in your household is infected, people in the household should take precautions including wearing masks to avoid spread to others.

• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before putting on your mask.

Get Vaccinated

• Authorized COVID-19 vaccines can help protect you from COVID-19.
• You should get a COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to you.
• Once you are fully vaccinated, you may be able to start doing some things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.

Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces

• Being in crowds like in restaurants, bars, fitness centers, or movie theaters puts you at higher risk for COVID-19.
• Avoid indoor spaces that do not offer fresh air from the outdoors as much as possible.
• If indoors, bring in fresh air by opening windows and doors, if possible.

Wash your hands often

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• It’s especially important to wash:
  • Before eating or preparing food
  • Before touching your face
  • After using the restroom
  • After leaving a public place
  • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
  • After handling your mask
  • After changing a diaper
  • After caring for someone sick
  • After touching animals or pets
• If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces

• Being in crowds like in restaurants, bars, fitness centers, or movie theaters puts you at higher risk for COVID-19.
• Avoid indoor spaces that do not offer fresh air from the outdoors as much as possible.
• If indoors, bring in fresh air by opening windows and doors, if possible.

Wash your hands often

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• It’s especially important to wash:
  • Before eating or preparing food
  • Before touching your face
  • After using the restroom
  • After leaving a public place
  • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
  • After handling your mask
  • After changing a diaper
  • After caring for someone sick
  • After touching animals or pets
• If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover coughs and sneezes

• If you are wearing a mask: You can cough or sneeze into your mask. Put on a new, clean mask as soon as possible and wash your hands.

• If you are not wearing a mask:
  • Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, or use the inside of your elbow and do not spit.
  • Throw used tissues in the trash.
• Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, clean your hands with a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Clean and disinfect

• Clean high touch surfaces daily. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.
• If someone is sick or has tested positive for COVID-19, disinfect frequently touched surfaces. Use a household disinfectant product from EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus (COVID-19)external icon according to manufacturer’s labeled directions.
  • If surfaces are dirty, clean them using detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.

CDC recommends everyone ages 5 and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19.

Vaccines Authorized For

Children 4 years and under:

• None

Children 5–11 years old:

• Pfizer-BioNTech

Teens 12–17 years old:

• Pfizer-BioNTech

 Everyone 18 years and older:

• Pfizer-BioNTech
• Moderna
• Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen

The number of vaccine doses needed depends on which vaccine you receive. To get the most protection:

• Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine should be given 3 weeks (21 days) apart.
• Two doses of Modernavaccine should be given 4 weeks (28 days) apart.
• Only one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Jansen (J&J/Janssen) vaccine should be given.

If you receive a vaccine that requires two doses, you should get your second shot as close to the recommended interval as possible. However, your second dose may be given up to 6 weeks (42 days) after the first dose. You should not get the second dose earlier than the recommended interval.

People with moderately to severely compromised immune systems should receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (i.e., Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) at least 28 days after the second dose.

Yes. If you’ve had COVID-19, wait until 90 days after your diagnosis to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Getting COVID-19 might offer some natural protection or immunity from reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19. But it’s not clear how long this protection lasts. Because reinfection is possible and COVID-19 can cause severe medical complications, it might be recommended that people who have already had COVID-19 get a COVID-19 vaccine.  

CDC recommends that people ages 65 years and older, residents ages 18 years and older in long-term care settings, and people ages 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions should receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine at least 6 months after completing their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series. Other groups may receive a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot based on their individual risk and benefit.

Learn more about who is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

COVID-19 can cause severe medical complications and lead to death in some people. There is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. If you get COVID-19, you could spread the disease to family, friends, and others around you. 

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine can help protect you by creating an antibody response in your body without your having to become sick with COVID-19. 

A COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective. If you get infected, the vaccine might keep you from becoming seriously ill or developing severe complications. 

Getting vaccinated can also help protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. 

If you have a reaction that prevents you from eating, sleeping, or working, contact your doctor. Also, contact your doctor if you have a reaction that lasts longer than three days. 

Signs of an allergic reaction include hives, swelling of the face and throat, difficulty breathing, a fast heartbeat, dizziness, and weakness. If you have any of these signs, seek care immediately. 

You can get a COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines, including a flu vaccine, at the same visit. Experience with other vaccines has shown that the way our bodies develop protection, known as an immune response, and possible side effects after getting vaccinated are generally the same when given alone or with other vaccines. Learn more about the timing of other vaccines.

Yes, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19 because:

• Research has not yet shown how long you are protected from getting COVID-19 again after you recover from COVID-19.
• Vaccination helps protect you even if you’ve already had COVID-19.

Evidence is emerging that people get better protection by being fully vaccinated compared with having had COVID-19. 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.

A COVID-19 vaccine can cause mild side effects, including: 

• Pain, redness or swelling where the shot was given 
• Fever 
• Fatigue
• Headache 
• Muscle pain 
• Chills 
• Joint pain 

You will be monitored for 15 minutes after getting a COVID-19 vaccine to see if you have an immediate reaction. Most reactions happen with the first few days after vaccination and last no more than three days. If you experience side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, it doesn’t mean that you have COVID-19. Take time to rest and recover. If you develop a fever, stay home. However, it’s not necessary to get a COVID-19 test or quarantine. 

After you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, take these steps to protect yourself and others:

• In general, you do not need to wear a mask in outdoor settings.
• If you are in an area with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, consider wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings and when you are in close contactwith others who are not fully vaccinated.
• If you have a condition or taking medications that weaken your immune system, you may not be fully protected even if you are fully vaccinated. You should continue to take all precautions recommended for unvaccinated people, including wearing a well-fitted mask, until advised otherwise by their healthcare provider.
• If you are fully vaccinated, to maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.

If you need a new vaccination card, contact the vaccination provider site where you received your vaccine. Your provider should give you a new card with up-to-date information about the vaccinations you have received.

If the location where you received your COVID-19 vaccine is no longer operating, contact your state or local health department’s immunization information system (IIS) for assistance.

CDC does not maintain vaccination records or determine how vaccination records are used, and CDC does not provide the CDC-labeled, white COVID-19 vaccination record card to people. These cards are distributed to vaccination providers by state and local health departments. Please contact your state or local health department if you have additional questions about vaccination cards or vaccination records.

You should still get tested if you’ve had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 or if you have symptoms of COVID-19.

• If you’ve had close contact with someone who has COVID-19, you should get tested 5-7 days after your exposure, even if you don’t have symptoms. You should also wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until your test result is negative.
• If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
• If your test result is positive, isolate at home for 10 days.

To get tested for COVID-19, please schedule a telehealth appointment with a Vibrant Health provider. If you are eligible for a test, the provider will schedule you for a test later that day or the next day.

Call 913-342-2552 or email appointments@vibranthealthkc.org to schedule.

Before your appointment, please complete a patient registration form. If you are uninsured, please complete the Sliding Fee Discount Program application.

No. Rapid COVID-19 testing is only available at a Vibrant Health clinic for those with symptoms or exposure. Appointments must be scheduled to receive a test. 

Pop-up events are scheduled throughout Wyandotte County and no appointment, symptoms or exposure is needed. Tests are free at these events and results are available within ~48 hours. For more information on the pop-up community testing events, visit our Facebook.

Patients with insurance will be billed for the telehealth appointment and COVID-19 test. Patients who are uninsured* will be asked to pay the appropriate sliding fee scale amount.

*uninsured patients may be eligible for reimbursement if a COVID test is deemed appropriate.