First Aid Kit: How and Why to Get a COVID Vaccine (and Also When and Where)

This story is part of COYOTE’s First Aid Kit service journalism series. As this is useful information that many can benefit from, we are not placing this article behind a paywall.

Big news: It’s September, and that means a shiny new COVID-19 vaccine has dropped. This one targets the variant XFG, a descendent of the JN.1 family, but you can just call it “Stratus” — a deceptively nice term for a low-lying cloud, but in this case, also a strain of COVID that gives you the infamous “razor blade throat.”

Despite that miserable symptom, not many folks are rolling up their sleeves this year. Data on vaccine uptake has yet to be released for this round, but approximately 17% of adults received the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine, much fewer than the year prior.

This is due, in part, to the mixed messaging from government public health bodies about who should get the vaccine and why. At this point, people are mostly confused or apathetic. Many simply want to move the fuck on from this miserable virus, which altered all of our lives, by ignoring every sign it still exists.

Well, we’re here to tell you to pull your head out of the sand, pull up your big kid pants, get with the program, mix your metaphors, and head to your local clinic. It’s time to get vaxxed!

Why?

Because it’s the right fucking thing to do — for our communities and ourselves. Also, for the vast majority of people, there’s absolutely no reason not to. (Potentially feeling crappy for a day or two afterwards does not count.)

Especially in its hollowed-out form under Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has repeatedly flip-flopped on its guidelines, with its messaging typically leaning toward “Meh, do it if you are ‘high-risk,’ but it’s not a biggie.” Well, it is a biggie. Yes, hospitalization rates are down for COVID (yay!), but that doesn’t mean the virus can’t wreak havoc.

Long COVID symptoms can include alcohol intolerance (hey that’s me), vertigo, chronic fatigue, weakened heart muscles, panic attacks, months-long headaches, brain fog, and so, so much more. Much of this is undercovered, but The Sick Times remains a great resource for anyone looking for answers.

In other words, if you go party while under the weather, you’re risking giving someone more than a sore throat for a few days — possibly serious, life-altering health issues even after the illness fades. That’s needlessly reckless, so be a nice friend, neighbor, member of your community and just get vaccinated. It’ll take five minutes, and it’s the right thing to do.

When?

We are still in a COVID-19 surge, so just go get it now, friends!!! It will last you through the holidays.

The only reasons to wait:

You’ve had COVID recently. That doesn’t preclude you from getting the vaccine, but if your goal is a maximum length of coverage — say, to get you through the winter — take into consideration that your immune system stores COVID antibodies after an infection that can reduce your chances of catching it again for a few weeks. The CDC suggests waiting three months to get vaccinated, but we don’t exactly trust this government, and other health experts have suggested two months is plenty.
You have a specific event more than three months from now, and you want the vaccination’s antibodies to be at their strongest while you’re there. Just mask up until you get it, OK? And remember it takes two weeks after getting vaccinated for it to fully kick in.

Where and How?

This depends on one’s insurance status and carrier, but here are the broad basics for the Bay Area:

Kaiser: If you’re a Kaiser patient, you can drop by nearly any Kaiser medical facility to get the shot, usually just in the lobby. Long lines are a thing of the past, but if you want it to be extra quick, try the middle of a weekday. You can even get your flu shot at the same time! (Just be prepared to maybe feel like ass for a day.)

CVS and Walgreens: Both offer COVID vaccines and accept most insurance carriers. Plus, you’ll get coupons!

If you are home-bound or have mobility challenges:

Alameda County will come to you.
In San Francisco, call the city’s Department of Public Health at 628-217-6100.
Marin County offers this service through Bay Area Mobile Medical Group.
In Contra Costa County, contact Contra Costa Health directly at 925-608-5350.
San Mateo County provides this through its Aging and Disability Services at 844-868-0938.
In Santa Clara County, call the Patient Access Department at 866-967-4677.

For the uninsured: Don’t stress! You can still get a shot! The California Department of Public Health actually has a great website called My Turn that lists clinics offering vaccines across the state — and you can filter for those providing the service for people with no insurance. There are a lot.

We’ve made it easy for you, so go get that shot, tell all your friends about it, and maybe you’ll bypass long COVID-induced alcohol intolerance and still be able to enjoy a negroni. I’ll be over here with my soda water and bitters and a super fashionable bandaid on my arm.