Your guide to COVID-19

Patients with COVID-19 have had mild to severe symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath — similar to the flu. They've also experienced chills or shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and loss of sense of smell or taste. While information indicates that most cases are mild, symptoms appear to be more severe in the elderly and people with chronic conditions.

Watch this video to learn more about common symptoms of COVID-19.

COVID-19 causes a mild illness in many people. But as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found, some people have an increased risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19, and some may need to take extra precautions to avoid infection.

You may be at high risk if you:

• Are 65 or older
• Live in a long-term care facility
• Have an ongoing serious health condition, such as:
  • Lung disease or asthma
  • Heart conditions
  • High blood pressure
  • Severe obesity
  • Diabetes
  • Kidney or liver disease 
  • A weakened immune system
  • Cancer treatment
• Smoke or vape tobacco/nicotine or marijuana (Kaiser Permanente members have many ways to get help quitting, including in-person appointments with a therapist or doctor, personalized online plans, and Wellness Coaching by Phone)
• Are pregnant (If you’re pregnant, learn more about how the virus could affect you or your care at kp.org/maternity-covid)

Visit CDC.gov for a full list of people at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

If you develop symptoms of COVID-19 — such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath — call your doctor.

Choosing to get vaccinated is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones against COVID-19. Kaiser Permanente advises everyone 5 years and older to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Until then, those who are not fully vaccinated should continue to wear a quality, well-fitting mask in public places.

Select your region above for local information.

Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the variants. However, breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated are occurring. Getting your booster, if you are eligible, is very important and will provide the best protection against severe illness from COVID-19.

In addition to vaccination, we continue to recommend taking the prevention measures of wearing a mask in public indoor settings, frequent handwashing, getting tested at the first sign of symptoms, and staying home when sick.  

The CDC recommends a single booster shot for anyone 5 and older who got a 2-dose Pfizer or Moderna series at least 5 months ago or a 1-dose Johnson & Johnson series at least 2 months ago. People 5 to 17 can only get a Pfizer booster. The CDC also recommends a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for immunocompromised children 5 to 11 at least 28 days after their second dose.

The CDC has issued updated guidance for who can get a second booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance includes the following groups who received their first booster dose at least 4 months ago:

• People 50 and older
• People 12 and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised 
• Anyone who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for both their primary dose and booster and people 50 years and older who first received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of what type of booster they received

Pfizer’s data shows that the vaccine is 90.9% effective in preventing infection in children 5 to 11. The data also shows that the vaccine reduces the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 in children if they do become infected.

Vaccinating children 5 to 11 also helps our communities build herd immunity and reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 outbreaks.