At a glance
- V-safe is one of several vaccine safety monitoring systems. V-safe lets you share with CDC how you or your dependent feel after getting a COVID-19 or RSV vaccine.
- V-safe check-ins take less than two minutes and are confidential.
- Your participation in V-safe helps CDC monitor the safety of select vaccines.
Overview
V-safe is one of several different safety systems CDC uses to closely monitor the safety of vaccines in the United States. V-safe lets you share with CDC how you or your dependent feel after getting a COVID-19 or RSV vaccine.
After you sign up, V-safe will send you confidential check-ins via text message or email to ask how you feel after vaccination. Completing check-ins and sharing how you feel, even if you don't experience side effects after vaccination, helps CDC's vaccine safety monitoring efforts.
V-safe originally launched in December 2020 to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and later expanded to include mpox and RSV vaccines.
10.1 million participants
V-safe data have been included in more than 20 scientific publications. These data:
- Help describe side effects experienced shortly after vaccination.
- Provide vaccine safety information from groups not included in clinical trials (e.g., pregnant people, young children).
V-safe may collect data from a larger number of vaccinated people than those included in randomized clinical trials. V-safe may also increase reporting of potentially serious adverse events (any side effect or health problem after vaccination that is concerning to you, even if you are not sure if the vaccine caused the event) to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) by making it easier for someone to complete a VAERS report should they receive medical care.
Vaccines V-safe currently monitors
Information for participants
Who can participate
- Anyone aged 6 months and older living in the U.S. or its territories who received a COVID-19 vaccine (or parents and caregivers on behalf of someone who did) in the last 42 days.
- Adults aged 60 years and older living in the U.S. or its territories who received an RSV vaccine (or caregivers on behalf of someone who did) in the last 42 days.
- Pregnant people aged 16-49 years living in the U.S. or its territories who received an RSV vaccine between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy (or parents and caregivers on behalf of someone who did) in the last 42 days.
How to participate
Notes for participants
- You can opt out of V-safe and its check-ins at any time.
- Your personal information in V-safe is protected and confidential, so it's safe and private.
- V-safe is not an official record of being vaccinated.
- V-safe does not give medical advice.
- V-safe cannot schedule vaccination appointments.
