For most people in the United States, the COVID-19 vaccine is still free. If you have private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, you should pay nothing out of pocket for the shot. The situation is more complicated if you’re uninsured, since a key federal program that covered uninsured adults ended in August 2024.
Private Insurance Coverage
All Health Insurance Marketplace plans and most other private insurance plans are required to cover COVID-19 vaccines without charging you a copayment, coinsurance, or deductible. This applies even if you haven’t met your yearly deductible yet. The catch is that you need to get the shot from an in-network provider. If you go out of network, your plan may not cover the cost, and you could be responsible for the full price of the vaccine plus any administration fee.
To avoid a surprise bill, check with your insurer or use your plan’s provider directory to find an in-network pharmacy or clinic before scheduling your appointment.
Medicare Coverage
Medicare Part B covers all FDA-approved and FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines, including the updated 2025–2026 formulas from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Novavax. You pay nothing as long as your provider accepts Medicare assignment, which means they agree to accept Medicare’s approved payment amount and not bill you anything extra. Most providers who give vaccines do accept assignment, but it’s worth confirming when you book.
Providers are explicitly prohibited from charging Medicare patients a copay, coinsurance, deductible, or office visit fee when the COVID-19 vaccination is the only service provided. They also cannot require you to receive any other medical service as a condition for getting vaccinated.
Coverage for Children
Children with private insurance or Medicaid are covered under the same rules as adults. For kids who fall through the cracks, the federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides free vaccines to children under 19 who meet at least one of these criteria:
- Uninsured: no health insurance at all
- Medicaid-eligible or enrolled: including children who qualify but haven’t formally signed up
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Underinsured: insurance that doesn’t cover vaccines, only covers some vaccines, requires copays or deductibles for vaccines, or has a dollar cap on vaccine coverage
Underinsured children can only receive VFC vaccines at specific locations: Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, or providers with an approved deputization agreement. Children who are uninsured, on Medicaid, or American Indian/Alaska Native can get VFC vaccines at any enrolled provider.
If You’re an Uninsured Adult
This is where things have changed. The CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which provided free COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured adults, ended in August 2024. When updated vaccines were authorized that month, the older doses available through the program could no longer be administered, and no federal replacement program was created.
Without insurance, the retail price of a COVID-19 vaccine can range roughly from $75 to over $200, depending on the brand and pharmacy. That said, some state and local health departments still offer free or low-cost COVID-19 vaccines using their own funding. Your best option is to contact your local health department directly or search by ZIP code at Vaccines.gov to find nearby pharmacies, then call to ask about pricing for uninsured patients. Some pharmacies and community health centers also offer sliding-scale fees based on income.
Watch Out for Hidden Fees
Even when the vaccine itself is free, some people worry about being charged an office visit fee or administration fee on top. Federal rules are clear on this point, at least for Medicare: providers cannot charge you for an office visit if a COVID-19 vaccination is the only reason you’re there. They also can’t require you to get additional services during the visit as a condition of receiving the vaccine.
For privately insured patients, the same principle generally applies. The Affordable Care Act requires that recommended vaccines be covered with zero cost sharing, and that includes the administration of the vaccine, not just the vaccine itself. If you receive a bill after getting a covered COVID-19 shot from an in-network provider, contact your insurance company to dispute it. Billing errors are common, and in most cases the charge should be reversed.