Your guide to COVID-19

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Take care of your COVID-19 needs

COVID-19 is a viral infection that affects your lungs and airways. It causes mild symptoms in most people and serious symptoms in others. Rest assured, as a Kaiser Permanente member, you’re covered for COVID-19 care and services — including the updated COVID-19 vaccine. Getting the vaccine is the best thing you can do to protect yourself against this virus.

Seasonal vaccines

Other respiratory viral infections like from the flu virus and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) tend to happen during certain seasons. Getting vaccinated is key to staying protected against these viruses. Learn more about seasonal vaccines and why they're so important for your health.

Get the facts about seasonal vaccines

COVID-19 FAQs

The COVID-19 vaccine, tests, and treatment are covered differently based on your plan’s benefits:

COVID-19 vaccine: It’s covered at no-cost.

Self-tests (or home antigen tests): If you’re a Medicaid beneficiary, these tests are covered at no cost. For most other plan members, these tests are not covered.

COVID-19 PCR test: If you’re a Medicaid patient, PCR tests are covered at no cost. For all other plan members, you’ll pay some costs, depending on your plan.

COVID-19 treatment: If you’re a Medicaid patient, treatment is covered at no cost. For all other plan members, you’ll pay some costs, depending on your plan.

Out-of-network COVID-19 services: If you’re a Medicaid patient, out-of-network COVID-19 care is covered at no cost. For all other plan members, the vaccine, tests, and treatment received outside of Kaiser Permanente are covered only if part of urgent or emergency care, if legally required, or if your plan includes out-of-network coverage.

Sign in to your account to see your Evidence of Coverage or other plan documents for details about your coverage.

People with COVID-19 may have mild to severe symptoms, including fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Other symptoms may include chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and loss of smell or taste. While patient information shows most cases are mild, symptoms tend to be more severe in older adults and people with chronic conditions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone ages 6 months and older receive a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against potentially serious illness this fall and winter.

It’s especially important to get vaccinated if you’re at high risk for complications from COVID-19. Older people and those with weakened immune systems have a greater risk for hospitalization and even death from the virus. However, even healthy children and adults can get seriously ill from COVID-19.

Learn more about the vaccine.

Paxlovid is a treatment for people who have an active COVID-19 infection and are at high risk for serious illness. It’s available by prescription at Kaiser Permanente pharmacies. Your care team may recommend it if:

You’re 12 or older
You’ve recently tested positive for COVID-19
Your symptoms started within the last 5 days
You have health conditions that put you at high risk for serious illness from COVID-19

For some people, Paxlovid may have 2 mild side effects: a metallic taste in the mouth and diarrhea. These side effects will go away once you’ve finished taking Paxlovid. Also, your care team will check what medications you’re taking and determine if any of them need to be held or have dosing changed while you are taking Paxlovid.