March 2021
Karen Ensle EdD, RDN, FAND, CFCS
Family & Community Health Sciences Educator
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County
It's hard to imagine a time when we didn't know COVID-19 existed. Now when people say "virus," we know what they mean. The impact of COVID-19 on our lives, our activities, and our freedom has affected us all. The responsibility is ours, as a community, to help stop this virus. Now we have a new, safe, and effective tool to help us do that—COVID-19 vaccines.
It takes everyone to get vaccinated.
We all need to step up to beat COVID-19. We ask you to join us in protecting yourself, your family and friends, and our community by getting vaccinated.
"COVID-19 vaccination is one of the strongest tools we can use to fight this pandemic together,"according to our Governor and our Rutgers University scientists.
Getting vaccinated adds an important layer of protection for you, your family, and loved ones. Here are some things you should know about the COVID-19 vaccine:
- All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are very effective at preventing the disease.
- The most common side effects are pain in the arm where you get the shot, feeling tired, headache, body aches, chills, and fever.
- Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available—wearing masks, staying at least 6 feet apart from people who don’t live with you, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, washing your hands frequently, and getting vaccinated.
We want everyone in our community to be safe and get back to hugging our families and friends and shaking hands with our neighbors. Cooperative Extension is anxious to start face-to-face educational sessions and youth activities like camp and fairs that are not virtual. We all play a part in this effort, so please get your COVID-19 vaccination.
If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit CDC’s FAQs web page: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html.