Where Will I Be Able To Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is being currently being administered to healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities in medical centers across the country. But as more vaccines become available and the rollout expands to more groups, it’s expected the vaccine will be offered in more areas.

If you’re not in this first group of the rollout, it’s not time for you to get vaccinated yet. But, in a few months, it will be. So, where will you be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine? Here’s what you need to know. 

Where the Vaccine Will Be Available

As of right now, the vaccine is only available to high priority groups at major medical centers, but that’s expected to change. Exactly where the vaccine will be available in your area largely depends on where you live—each state and territory has its own operational playbook that dictates where the vaccine will be offered. While there is variation from area to area, there are some common threads. In general, you can expect that the COVID-19 vaccine will eventually be available near you in the following locations.

Your Local Hospital

This is where vaccinations are mostly taking place at the moment. Many major medical centers have the capacity to efficiently store the Pfizer vaccine, which requires very cold temperatures, infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Verywell. “That’s important,” he says. As more vaccines become available, you may be able to walk into your local hospital to get vaccinated without an appointment during certain days, similar to how your local medical center handles flu vaccinations.

Your Local Pharmacy or Grocery Store

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has formed partnerships with large chain pharmacies and networks that represent independent pharmacies and regional chains to provide access to the vaccine anywhere pharmacists work. “Pharmacy vaccinators are crucial public health partners for increasing access and convenience of COVID-19 vaccines,” the HHS says in a press release, noting that “many pharmacists and the interns and technicians working under their supervision are trained to provide immunizations and are already important immunizers in their communities.”

Your Primary Care Physician’s Office

The American Medical Association (AMA) says that physicians will play a key role in administering the vaccine. The AMA is urging physicians to have a communication plan in place now to encourage patients to get vaccinated and to remind them when their second dose of the vaccine is needed. They’ll also need to have supplies ready, like personal protection equipment, needles, syringes, alcohol prep pads, and vaccination cards that are being assembled to accompany the vaccines delivered to vaccination sites.

An Urgent Care Center or Walk-In Clinic

Vaccines are already being offered in clinics in the U.K., which approved the Pfizer vaccine before the U.S. “After an initial rollout to hospitals, the vaccine became available at local clinics,” Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, tells Verywell. “There is every expectation that this will also happen in the United States.”

Your Dentist

It seems unusual, but several states have opened up the possibility of having dentists administer the COVID-19 vaccine. “We have a need for vaccinators,” Adalja says. “It is important to bring in people who have medical training in this, including dentists—they administer injections all the time.”

Halkitis says using dentists to administer vaccines is a “particularly smart idea,” adding that it may even create less anxiety for people who don’t feel comfortable going to a hospital, pharmacy, or their primary care physician to get vaccinated.

Overall, experts say vaccination is what ultimately matters. “It doesn’t really matter where people get their services, as long as they get their vaccination,” Halkitis says.