Knowing key dates can help you avoid penalties and get your refund faster

As we look forward to 2022, we can mark significant dates on our calendars: birthdays, anniversaries and, of course, the deadlines the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sets for filing and paying federal income taxes.

Bear in mind that we are filing taxes for income earned in 2021, even though we file those forms in 2022. To keep confusion to a minimum, tax experts refer to 2021 as the tax year and 2022 as the filing year. Most, but not all, of the deadlines in 2022 refer to tax year 2021.

When is Tax Day? It’s complicated

The deadline for filing 2021 federal income tax returns for most taxpayers is April 18. Taxpayers haven’t had to file on the traditional date, April 15, since the 2019 filing season.

In 2020 and 2021, the April 15 deadline got pushed back by the COVID-19 pandemic. And in some non-pandemic years, the deadline sometimes gets pushed back to the next business day because April 15 falls on a weekend.

2022 IRS Key Tax Dates

Jan. 14: IRS Free File service opens to prepare tax year 2021 returns

Jan. 18: Final estimated tax payment for 2021 due

Jan. 24: IRS begins processing 2021 tax returns

Jan. 24: Free MilTax service for military opens to prepare 2021 returns

April 18: First estimated tax payment for tax year 2022 due

April 18: Filing deadline for tax year 2021

June 15: Second estimated tax payment for 2022 due

Sept. 15: Third estimated tax payment for 2022 due

Oct. 17: Extended deadline to file 2021 tax return

Jan. 17, 2023: Fourth estimated tax payment for 2022 due

The filing deadline this year is Monday, April 18, because Washington, D.C., observes Emancipation Day on Friday, April 15. By law, the IRS is required to treat D.C. holidays as if they were national holidays for tax-filing purposes. Emancipation Day commemorates the day in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure to free enslaved people in D.C. (Adding to the complexity, the actual date of Emancipation Day is April 16, but since it falls on a Saturday this year the holiday is celebrated a day early.)

Making matters more complicated, taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts don’t have to file until April 19, because those states celebrate Patriots’ Day on April 18. The holiday marks the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.

Some taxpayers affected by recent natural disasters get extra time to file. Victims of the January Colorado wildfires will have until May 16 to file their federal tax returns. The same goes for victims of the December tornados and flooding in Kentucky.

Filing late?

Don’t blow the deadline. The penalty for late filing is 5 percent of the amount due each month, and the penalty for failure to pay is 0.5 percent a month, and maxes out at 25 percent a year. (When both penalties are levied in the same month, the total penalty is 5 percent a month: 4.5 percent for failure to file and 0.5 percent for failure to pay.) Interest also accrues, at a current rate of 3 percent.

If you must file late, you can get an automatic extension by filing IRS Form 4868. The automatic extension typically gives you until Oct. 15 to file your return, but since Oct. 15 falls on a Saturday this year, the extended deadline is actually Oct. 17. However, an extension to file doesn’t grant an extension to pay. You must still pay any taxes owed by April 18 or face penalties for late payment. If you’re owed a refund and file late, the IRS won’t levy a penalty, but you won’t get your refund until you file. If you don’t claim a refund within three years, you’ll lose the money.

When does tax season start?

The IRS takes a few weeks to get ready to process the millions of returns it receives during tax season. Last year, taxpayers sent more than 168 million individual returns to the IRS. However, IRS and Treasury officials say some returns have yet to be processed due to delays stemming from the pandemic.

The IRS will begin accepting and processing new returns on Jan. 24. The IRS says most taxpayers will get their refunds within 21 days of when they file electronically, barring any issues with processing their tax returns. Electronic filing, when linked with direct deposit, is the fastest way to get a refund. Last year’s average tax refund was more than $2,800.

Paying estimated taxes

The self-employed must pay estimated taxes every quarter. The last payment for the 2021 tax year is due on Jan. 18. The first payment for the 2022 tax year is due April 18, with other payments due June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 17, 2023.

Reprinted from AARP.

Health experts are quickly learning about the characteristics of the new omicron variant that is driving a record-breaking spike in COVID-19 cases, including some of the symptoms it causes.

It isn’t always the case that a new version of the virus brings about a new batch of symptoms. “The symptom differences between people infected with one variant or another are usually much more similar than they are different,” says Scott Roberts, M.D., assistant professor and associate medical director of infection prevention at Yale School of Medicine. And for the most part, that seems to hold true with omicron. But researchers and medical professionals have noted a few small differences between omicron and its predecessors.

For instance, loss of taste and smell appears to occur less often in omicron infections. It’s something health experts are hearing anecdotally; there are also early studies that support these observations, though University of Michigan infectious disease physician Laraine Washer, M.D., says there’s not enough population-level data yet to know for sure. Backaches and night sweats have also been associated with omicron. “But ultimately, we haven’t detected any clear difference between omicron versus delta,” Roberts says. “We’ve been advising people just to wait until the data comes out.”

The one big difference that we’re anecdotally hearing [is] there’s much less loss of taste and smell with the omicron variant compared to delta.— Scott Roberts, M.D., assistant professor and associate medical director of infection prevention at Yale School of Medicine

Milder symptoms but more contagious

What’s becoming clearer, however, is that omicron, while highly contagious, appears to cause more mild, coldlike symptoms. “Many people are presenting with sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, muscle aches,” Roberts says.

Data collected so far show that individuals infected with omicron are significantly less likely to be hospitalized than those infected with delta, even though hospitalization rates are at an all-time high due to skyrocketing case counts. They’re also less likely to require intensive care. This is not the case for everybody, experts caution. Some patients experience serious symptoms with omicron, like trouble breathing, Washer notes. “We are still seeing people end up on ventilators and having severe disease,” Roberts adds.

Health experts are trying to determine whether omicron’s less severe symptoms are a product of the variant itself or a reflection of a majority-vaccinated population that is better able to blunt some of its worst effects. The vaccine-plus-booster regimen is about 75 percent effective against symptomatic disease, and protection against severe disease is likely higher, researchers report. Both Roberts and Washer say the majority of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

Another explanation: Lab studies suggest that the omicron variant does not replicate as well in the deep lung tissue — an area notoriously damaged by delta and other variants — rather, it thrives in the upper airway. “Perhaps that is why we’re not seeing as severe disease,” Roberts says.

Signs of omicron infection can come on quickly

Another noticeable difference between omicron and other coronavirus variants is how quickly the symptoms hit. Fever, sore throat and fatigue caused by omicron are more likely to show up about three days after a person is infected, whereas symptoms caused by delta, alpha and others typically emerge about five or six days after infection, Washer says.

Getting sick soon after exposure can help people better pinpoint when and where they became infected. “But it also means that the increase in viral load that’s causing symptoms comes on pretty fast,” Washer says. “And you may actually be infectious to others even before those symptoms develop.”  

Omicron’s shorter incubation period, as it’s called, could lead to new testing guidelines, Roberts points out. Current recommendations advise individuals to wait at least five days after having contact with a COVID-positive individual before taking a test. “They may shorten that to as little as three days after getting exposed just to be sure,” he says.

Cold and flu season adds to confusion

While milder symptoms are better in many respects, omicron will make it more difficult for people to tell what’s COVID-19 and what’s just a cold — or the flu or a whole host of other respiratory illnesses that circulate this time of year.

Most Common Symptoms of COVID-19

People with COVID-19 report a wide range of symptoms. The most prevalent are:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Roberts says the solution is to “take any symptom seriously, even a mild symptom.” And if there’s a change in how you’re feeling, take an at-home test — if you can find one. Rapid antigen tests can tell you whether you have a COVID-19 infection in about 15 minutes with a swab of the nose or throat. Home tests are in short supply because of high demand, though the federal government has pledged to make them more accessible in the coming months.

If your test comes back positive, health officials recommend a minimum five-day isolation period. After five days you can be around others again while wearing a mask, as long as you are fever-free and feeling better. And don’t forget to tell your health care provider that you have COVID-19. Depending on your medical condition and drug availability, you may qualify for treatment to make sure the disease does not progress to a more dangerous state. Also, be on the lookout for worsening symptoms. Trouble breathing, pain or pressure in the chest, and confusion require immediate medical care.

Even if your antigen test is negative, Roberts advises caution. “I think if you’re having signs of respiratory virus infection right now, more likely than not it’s COVID,” he says. A PCR test (short for polymerase chain reaction), administered at a doctor’s office or testing site, can confirm your suspicions. Another option to consider if you test negative for COVID-19 but have a fever is a flu test, Washer says, since there are also treatments specific to this illness that can help you feel better.

Preventive measures key in omicron fight

Finally, don’t forget all the preventive efforts that can help you dodge an omicron infection in the first place. Health experts still encourage avoiding crowded gatherings and poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Keep a physical distance between yourself and others not in your household, and wear a mask when you’re out in public.

“One thing I would emphasize is omicron is different than delta, in that even if you’re vaccinated, even if you’re boosted, you really need to protect yourself by wearing a high-quality mask, especially when you’re indoors,” Washer says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has do’s and don’ts for selecting and wearing a mask. With the current surge in COVID-19 cases, many experts are recommending medical-grade masks, such as KN95s and surgical masks, instead of cloth ones.  

Reprinted from AARP.

Charity Scams

Americans contributed more than $471 billion to charity in 2020, according to the Giving USA Foundation’s annual report on U.S. philanthropy. That generosity supports many amazing organizations that put those billions to work for health care, education, environmental protection, the arts and numerous other causes.

Unfortunately, it also opens a door for scammers, who capitalize on donors’ goodwill to line their pockets.

Many such frauds involve faux fundraising for veterans and disaster relief. Scammers know how readily we open our hearts and wallets to those who served and those rebuilding their lives after hurricanes, earthquakes or wildfires. Charity scammers are especially active during the holidays, the biggest giving season of the year. 

They also follow the headlines: The coronavirus pandemic has brought a bevy of phony appeals to donate to victims or emergency response effort.

4 Ways to Avoid a Charity Scam

Sham charities succeed by mimicking the real thing. Like genuine nonprofits, they reach you via telemarketing, direct mail, email and door-to-door solicitations. They create well-designed websites with deceptive names. (Cybersecurity firm DomainTools has flagged more than 100,000 sites with COVID-19-related domains as “high risk” for fraud.)

Some operate fully outside the law; others are in fact registered nonprofits but devote little of the money they raise to the programs they promote. Federal and state authorities who shut down a massive fundraising network in March 2021 said the affiliated companies pocketed as much as 90 cents on the donated dollar as they bombarded consumers with illegal robocalls and deceptive appeals to support homeless veterans, cancer patients and autistic kids. 

With a little research and a few precautions, you can help ensure your donations go to organizations that are genuinely serving others, not helping themselves.

Warning Signs

• Pressure to give right now. A legitimate charity will welcome your donation whenever you choose to make it.
• A thank-you for a donation you don’t recall making. Making you think you’ve already given to the cause is a common trick unscrupulous fundraisers use to lower your resistance.
• A request for payment by cash, gift card or wire transfer. Those are scammers’ favored payment methods because the money is difficult to trace.

Do’s

• Do check how watchdogs like Charity Navigator, CharityWatch and the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance rate an organization before you make a donation, and contact your state’s charity regulator to verify that the organization is registered to raise money there.
• Do your own research online. The FTC recommends searching for a charity’s name or a cause you want to support (like “animal welfare” or “homeless kids”) with terms such as “highly rated charity,” “complaints” and “scam.”
• Do pay attention to the charity’s name and web address. Scammers often mimic the names of familiar, trusted organizations to fool donors.
• Do ask how much of your donation goes to overhead and fundraising. One rule of thumb, used by Wise Giving Alliance, is that at least 65 percent of a charity’s total expenses should go directly to serving its mission.
• Do keep a record of your donations and regularly review your credit card account to make sure you weren’t charged more than you agreed to give or unknowingly signed up for a recurring donation.

Don’ts

• Don’t give personal and financial information like your Social Security number, date of birth or bank account number to anyone soliciting a donation. Scammers use that data to steal money and identities.
• Don’t make a donation with cash or by gift card or wire transfer. Credit cards and checks are safer.
• Don’t click on links in unsolicited email, Facebook or Twitter fundraising messages; they can unleash malware.
• Don’t donate by text without confirming the number on the charity’s official website.
• Don’t assume pleas for help on social media or on crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe are legitimate, especially in the wake of disasters. The FTC warns that fraudsters use real victims’ stories and pictures to con people.

Reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network.

The share of shopping that consumers do online has been growing for years, and the coronavirus pandemic sent the trend into hyperdrive, with ecommerce accounting for one-fifth of U.S. retail spending in 2020, according to research firm Digital Commerce 360.

Cybercriminals are keeping pace. Online purchasing is the most common scam type reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), accounting for 38 percent of complaints to the BBB’s Scam Tracker in the first seven months of 2020 — up from 24 percent in 2019. An AARP-sponsored study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that 29 percent of consumers ages 50 and over have been stung by online shopping scams.

The typical shopping scam starts with a bogus website, mobile app or social media ad. Some faux e-stores are invented from whole cloth, but many mimic trusted retailers, with familiar logos and slogans and a URL that’s easily mistaken for the real thing. They offer popular items at a fraction of the usual cost and promise perks like free shipping and overnight delivery, exploiting the premium online shoppers put on price and speed.

Some of these copycats do deliver merchandise — shoddy knockoffs worth less than even the “discount” price advertised as a once-in-a-lifetime deal on, say, Tiffany watches or Timberland boots. More often, you’ll wait in vain for your purchase to arrive. Reports to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of undelivered orders quadrupled from 2015 to 2019, and no-shows reached record highs in the spring of 2020 as the spread of COVID-19 fueled a spike in online shopping. 

And your losses might not stop there: Scammers may seed phony sites, apps, or links in pop-up ads and email coupons with malware that infects your device and harvests personal information for use in identity theft.

Not surprisingly, these frauds flourish during the holiday season. A November 2020 AARP survey on holiday shopping found that while 72 percent of U.S. consumers are concerned about the security of their personal and financial information when buying something online, only 15 percent could correctly answer at least 7 of 10 true/false questions about safe shopping practices. You need not forgo the ease and endless selection of online shopping, but take precautions to make sure you get what you pay for.

Warning Signs

• Bargain-basement prices. Internet security firm Norton says to be on guard if discounts exceed 55 percent.
• Shoddy website design or sloppy English. Real retailers take great care with their online presentation.
• Limited or suspicious contact options — for example, they only have a fill-in contact form, or the customer-service email is a Yahoo or Gmail account, not a corporate one.
• URLs with extraneous words or characters (most stores use only their brand name in web addresses) or unusual domains — for example, .bargain, .app or a foreign domain instead of .com or .net.

Do’s

• Do use trusted sites rather than shopping with a search engine. Scammers can game search results to lead you astray.
• Do comparison shop. Check prices from multiple retailers to help determine if a deal you’ve seen really is too good to be true.
• Do research an unfamiliar product or brand. Search for its name with terms like “scam” or “complaint,” and look for reviews.
• Do check that phone numbers and addresses on store sites are genuine, so you can contact the seller in case of problems.
• Do carefully read delivery, exchange, refund and privacy policies. If they are vague or nonexistent, take your business elsewhere.
• Do look twice at URLs and app names. Misplaced or transposed letters are a scam giveaway but easy to miss.
• Do pay by credit card. Liability for fraudulent charges on credit cards is generally limited to $50, and some providers offer 100 percent purchase protection. Paying by debit card does not off offer such safeguards.

Don’ts

• Don’t pay by wire transfer, money order or gift card. Sellers that demand these types of payments are scammers, and unlike with credit cards or reputable e-pay services, there’s little recourse to recover your money.
• Don’t assume a retail website is safe because it is encrypted. Many scam sites use encryption, indicated by a padlock icon or “https://” in front of the URL, to provide a false sense of security. Use other means, like those listed to the left, to confirm if a site is legit.
• Don’t provide more information than a retailer needs. That should be only your billing information and the shipping address.
• Don’t use sites that require you to download software or enter personal information to access coupons or discount codes.
• Don’t buy from sites that are very new, security software maker Norton recommends. Look for a copyright date, and use the WHOIS lookup service to see when a domain was created.

Reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network

 Americans will spend $207 billion online over the 2021 holidays, according to Adobe’s annual seasonal shopping forecast. That’s up 10 percent from 2020 as consumers increasingly gravitate toward the ease and convenience of e-commerce. Scammers love the trend, too: They’ve developed myriad tricks to take advantage of the proliferation of packages, especially during the holiday season.

Their primary ploy is a phony delivery notification, a scam that really ramped up amid the surge in stay-at-home shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. You’ll get an email or text message that claims to come from the U.S. Postal Service or a major delivery company like FedEx or UPS. The message may say you need to confirm an order so it can be delivered, or that an unsuccessful attempt was made to drop off a package and you need to schedule another. Clicking a link will take you to a website where you can straighten things out.   

In all likelihood, it’s a ruse. The scammer is hoping you order so many things online that you can’t keep track of all your purchases, or that you’ll assume it’s a gift from a friend or relative. The link takes you to a bogus site where you’ll be asked to enter personal or financial data, enabling a crook to use it for identity theft. The fake site might also be a launchpad for malware that harvests sensitive information from your device. 

3 Ways to Avoid a Package Delivery Scam

There are low-tech variations, too. Scammers might call you posing as employees from a delivery service, saying they need a credit card number or other private data to reschedule a drop-off. Or they’ll leave a failed-delivery notice on your door with a number to call; if you do, the person on the other end will try to talk you into providing personal information to collect your purported package.

Some package crooks resort to even simpler means. These “porch pirates” watch for delivery vans that leave legitimately purchased merchandise at consumers’ doorsteps, ideally when the targets aren’t home, then swoop in and make off with the goods. In a November 2020 survey of 2,000 consumers by market-research firm C+R, 43 percent said they’d had a package stolen from a doorstep or porch, and nearly two-thirds of that group said it had happened more than once.

Warning Signs

• You get an email or other communication about a delivery of something you don’t remember ordering.
• The message presses you to urgently make a payment or provide personal or financial information to facilitate a delivery.
• The message includes misspellings or poor grammar.
• A supposed delivery company email has a sender’s address or link with a slightly different version of a business name, such as fedx.com.

Do’s

• Do be wary of unsolicited phone or electronic communications from a delivery service. Companies will usually alert you to a failed delivery by leaving a notice on your door.
• Do keep track of your online orders and their shipping status. Knowing what’s coming and when makes it easier to spot fake delivery messages.
• Do hover your cursor over links in a supposed delivery email to display the actual target URL.
• Do rely on safe ways to communicate with delivery companies. Call a confirmed customer-service number, or log on to a company’s official website and use the chat function.
• Do consider these steps to thwart porch pirates:
  • Ask neighbors to pick up your deliveries when you’re not home.
  • Have packages sent to your workplace or the home of a nearby friend or relative. 
  • Use a parcel-delivery locker. The U.S. Postal Service and Amazon offer locker delivery at select locations at no extra charge.

Don’ts

• Don’t respond to an unsolicited email claiming to be from a delivery service that asks you to provide, update or verify personal information.
• Don’t click on a link or open an attachment in an unsolicited email or text message that appears to be from a delivery company.
• Don’t give out personal or credit card information to a caller. Instead, find and call the company’s official customer-service number and ask if they were genuinely trying to contact you about a delivery.
• Don’t reveal your user ID or password for a delivery company’s website to a caller, or to anyone else.
• Don’t call the number on a delivery notice left on your door. If the notice names a company, call its official customer-service line to check on a supposed delivery.
• Don’t rely on official-looking logos or professional-sounding language as proof of authenticity. Scammers study and copy companies’ actual communications to make their ploys look and sound convincing.

Reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network

Extra vaccine doses are now available to millions of Americans. Here’s the latest on what to expect

 Tens of millions of Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are now eligible for a booster shot, which is meant to wake up the immune system so it stays sharp if confronted with the coronavirus. 

Boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) are now available in pharmacies, health clinics and doctor’s offices across the country. Here’s what you need to know about these additional doses as the shots roll out:

1. Boosters are available, but not everyone qualifies for one 

Nearly 190 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but not everybody can get a booster shot at this time. Moderna and Pfizer vaccine recipients are only eligible for a booster if they are at least six months out from the original vaccine and are 65 and older, or 18 and older with an underlying health condition that puts them at high risk for severe COVID-19. Individuals 18 and up who live or work in high-risk settings also qualify for an mRNA booster.

Young and otherwise healthy adults whose jobs or living situations don’t put them at risk are encouraged to hold off on a booster shot for now. Data shows the mRNA vaccines are still highly protective against severe illness in most people. 

When it comes to J&J’s booster, eligibility requirements are more straightforward: Anyone 18 or older who had their vaccine at least two months ago can get a booster. 

2. Moderna’s booster is a tad different 

The boosters from Pfizer and J&J are the same formulation and dosage as the initial vaccines, but Moderna’s booster is half the dose — 50 micrograms — of the first two shots. Clinical trial data show that the smaller dose still generates a strong immune response, and the company says the lower dose helps to increase worldwide supply.

• 3. Booster shots could rev up waning protection in some  

While the coronavirus vaccines can help to thwart infection (unvaccinated people are eight times more likely to get COVID-19 than vaccinated individuals, according to the CDC), their primary function is to prevent serious illness, explains Anna Durbin, M.D., a vaccine and infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. And the COVID-19 vaccines are still highly effective at doing just that — they’re keeping people out of the hospital and preventing them from succumbing to the disease. Very few fully vaccinated Americans have been hospitalized or have died from COVID-19 — about 0.009 percent, according to the most recent data.

That said, multiple studies show that some populations are starting to see protection against disease dwindle, including older adults, who account for the majority of the severe breakthrough infections. And top public health experts have said that the current protection could continue to diminish in the months ahead, “especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout.”  

It’s not unusual to see this waning response. “Even highly effective vaccines become less effective over time,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., explained in a White House COVID-19 task force briefing. And other vaccines require booster shots to reinvigorate the immune system, like the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine.

Israel started administering booster shots to its 60-plus population this summer and has seen a significant reduction in the risk of infection and severe disease, Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a recent briefing.

Many experts argue the data isn’t strong enough to support booster shots for younger populations who are showing a slower decline in immune protection — at least right now. “And we shouldn’t be giving a valuable resource just because we can,” Durbin says about booster doses for everybody. “It really needs to be indicated, I think, by the epidemiology of the disease and of the illness,” she notes, adding that the science could change.

4. Don’t expect any new or unusual side effects

Let’s start with Pfizer’s booster: Data reviewed by the FDA shows that Pfizer’s booster shot does not appear to have different safety risks than the first two vaccine doses, Mark McClellan, M.D., a former FDA commissioner and director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University, told AARP in a statement. And evidence on boosters from Israel and elsewhere “seems to show benefits in people who are older or are at higher risk of serious complications because of health conditions, without unusual side effects,” McClellan adds.

Pfizer’s booster trial reported symptoms similar to what some people experienced after their first and second doses: temporary pain at the injection site, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and joint and muscle pain. And data presented on Sept. 22 by a vaccine safety group within the CDC’s advisory committee found that a third dose of the mRNA vaccines brought on fewer side effects than the second shot.

An FDA review of Moderna’s booster data details similar findings. The booster caused side effects like those seen after the second dose of the vaccine. The most common among adults 65 and older were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and joint pain. No serious adverse events or serious safety concerns were reported. 

When it comes to J&J booster shots, about 40 percent of clinical trial participants 60 and older reported pain at the injection site after the shot, an FDA review of the data shows. Roughly 29 percent experienced headache and fatigue, about 26 percent noted muscle pain, 12.4 percent had nausea, and 2.3 percent had a fever.

Who is eligible for a booster shot? ​

If you had a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, you are eligible for a booster if:

• You completed your primary series at least six months ago 
• You are 65 or older 
• You are 18+ and have an underlying medical condition
• You are 18+ and work or live in a high-risk settings

If you had J&J, you are eligible for a booster if: 

• You had your initial vaccine at least two months ago
• You are 18 or older 

Source: CDC

5. Boosters can be mixed and matched

Federal officials have given their blessing for mixing and matching booster shots, making it possible for people to get boosted with a different vaccine than the one they originally had. “Some people may have a preference for the vaccine type that they originally received and others may prefer to get a different booster,” the CDC said in its news release announcing the decision. 

Mixing and matching also makes it easier for people to get a booster if they don’t have access to their original vaccine. 

Preliminary results from a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that people who were boosted with a shot different from their original vaccine saw a spike in antibody levels, which is one measure of immune response. In particular, J&J vaccine recipients who were boosted with either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine saw an increase in antibody levels much higher than those boosted with the J&J vaccine. What’s more, no safety concerns were identified. 

If you are considering mixing and matching and have questions and concerns, talk to your doctor, says Mohammad Sobhanie, M.D., an infectious disease expert at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “I think it’s incredibly important that you have these conversations with your primary care physician so that they can give you the best advice out there based on your medical conditions,” he says. 

6. Booster doses should be widely available   

Wondering how you can get your booster shot? The same way you got the first shot: Health clinics, pharmacies and other official vaccination sites will continue to administer the COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the boosters. You may need an appointment, so it’s good to check ahead of time.

Health officials have confirmed that the government has adequate supplies, so no shortages are expected. And just like the initial series, the booster shots will be free in the U.S. — no ID or insurance card is required. It is, however, a good idea to bring your paper vaccination record so the date of your booster shot can be added.

“The bottom line is that we are prepared for boosters and we will hit the ground running,” said Jeffrey Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator. 

7. It’s unclear whether boosters will be needed annually

Experts aren’t sure if the COVID-19 vaccine will be needed on a regular basis, like the flu shot. One thing that could make that scenario more likely, Durbin says, is “if we are unable to control this pandemic — if we continue to see surges that are requiring hospitalization and really taxing health care systems.”

However, if we can control the spread of COVID-19 and bring down the levels of severe disease we’re seeing, “we may not need booster shots every year,” Durbin adds. “But a lot of that is going to depend on the epidemiology of the pandemic.”

8. There could be a new standard for ‘fully vaccinated’

Now that boosters are available, our definition of “fully vaccinated” could change. Currently, people are considered fully vaccinated if they have had two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or a single dose of the J&J vaccine.   

Reprinted from AARP.org

November is eyecare month. You may qualify for free eyecare with an ophthalmologist.

• EyeCare America, one of the country’s leading public service programs provides eye care through a pool of more than 5,500 volunteer ophthalmologists. Since 1985, EyeCare America has helped more than 2 million people. Ninety percent of the care provided is at no out-of-pocket cost to the patient.We offer two programs:
  1. The Seniors Program connects eligible seniors 65 and older with local volunteer ophthalmologists who provide a medical eye exam often at no out-of-pocket cost, and up to one year of followup care for any condition diagnosed during the initial exam, for the physician services.
  2. The Glaucoma Program provides a glaucoma eye exam at no cost to those who are eligible and uninsured. Those who are eligible and insured are billed normal office procedure, and responsible for any co-payments. (This is an awareness program to provide a baseline glaucoma eye exam to those who may not be aware they are at increased risk). See if you are eligible for one of our programs.
• Seniors Program:
  • U.S. citizen or legal resident
  • Age 65 or older
  • Not belong to an HMO or have eye care benefits through the VA
  • Not seen an ophthalmologist in three or more yearsGlaucoma Program:
  • U.S. citizen or legal resident
  • Not belong to an HMO or have eye care benefits through the VA
  • Not had an eye exam in 12 months or more
  • At increased risk for glaucoma, determined by your age, race and family history
  • SERVICES THAT ARE NOT COVERED
  • Additional services necessary for your care such as, hospitals, surgical facilities, anesthesiologists and medications, are the patient’s responsibility and beyond the scope of EyeCare America services. The ophthalmologist is a volunteer who agrees to provide only services within these program guidelines .EYEGLASSES ARE NOT; COVERED:
  • EyeCare America provides medical eye care, only. The program does NOT provide eyeglass prescriptions or cover the cost of eye glasses. If you are concerned about the cost of these items, please discuss this with the doctor BEFORE the examination, or visit our eye glasses resources webpage
  • .ADDITIONAL REFERRALS:
  • If you were eligible for the Seniors Program, and require a re-referral to another ophthalmologist for specialty care, you or the EyeCare America volunteer ophthalmologist MUST contact EyeCare America in order to continue receiving care through the program. We may be able to locate another EyeCare America volunteer to provide the care.