Mythbusting: "The COVID-19 vaccines don't protect against variants."

Every approved COVID-19 vaccine has proven to be effective against known variants, including the Delta variant.

What is a variant?

COVID-19 and many other viruses are constantly changing through mutations that occur as they spread. Some variants have little to no impact, while others can affect how a virus spreads or how sick people will get from it. Scientists around the world are constantly monitoring, tracking, and searching for new variants of COVID-19.

Variants occur the more often a virus spreads. Reducing exposure, getting vaccinated and containing the spread of a virus are the best ways to limit variants.

Variants and Vaccines

New variants of the COVID-19 virus have continued to spread worldwide, the Delta variant being one of the most recent examples. The Delta variant is a new strain of COVID-19 that appears to be much more transmissible which could mean more hospitalizations. But there’s good news: the CDC’s current data suggests that all three approved vaccines offer protection against the Delta variant and most other known variants of COVID-19 that are currently spreading in the United States. 

As new variants continue to spread, the CDC will continue to monitor how vaccines do against all known forms of COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself and your community against COVID-19 and its variants is to get vaccinated. 

To schedule an appointment or learn more, visit our COVID-19 vaccine page.