With respiratory season just around the corner, vaccination against infectious diseases like COVID-19 continues to be the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from severe illness and hospitalization due to infection.
Gabriela M. Andujar Vazquez, MDWith fall officially underway and the weather cooling down, the time of year has arrived when many people start booking appointments for their annual respiratory virus booster vaccines, including COVID-19. While COVID and other vaccines have been easy to obtain from clinics or pharmacies in recent years, changing guidelines about who should get the COVID vaccine have left a lot of people with questions.
“Recent changes to vaccine recommendations may feel confusing,” said Gabriela. M. Andujar Vazquez, MD, hospital epidemiologist at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, who appears in a new video from Dartmouth Health about this year’s COVID vaccine. “I want to our patients, and the community at large, to know that we have even more data today about the COVID vaccines. And with respiratory season just around the corner, vaccination against infectious diseases like COVID-19 continues to be the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from severe illness and hospitalization due to infection.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends the 2025-2026 COVID vaccine, which was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, for all Americans over the age of 6 months, especially for babies and toddlers ages 6-23 months and adults over 65. People with certain conditions that put them at higher risk for severe disease, cancer patients, people with weakened immune systems, and women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy, postpartum and/or breastfeeding, should also get vaccinated to protect themselves and their babies.
“While Dartmouth Health facilities don't have them available yet, we will soon offer COVID-19 vaccines at our vaccination clinic,” Andujar said. “Many local retail pharmacies are already offering vaccines. You can schedule your appointment online by visiting your local pharmacy’s website.”
Most insurance plans—including Medicaid, Medicare, and many private insurers—continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines. Call your insurance provider if you have questions.
In addition to vaccination, you can prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses by staying home when you’re sick, washing your hands, and wearing a mask in public if you are experiencing respiratory symptoms.
Stay up to date about availability of COVID vaccines at a Dartmouth Health location near you by visiting dartmouth-hitchcock.org/covid19.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.