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The updated omicron booster rollout has been a dud. That’s bad news heading into the fall and winter, especially for older Americans most at risk.
Only 7.6 million Americans — less than 4 percent of those eligible — have received the shot so far, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some recently infected people may be waiting a few months to get boosted (per official recommendations), there doesn’t seem to be much urgency among the public. Two-thirds of adults don’t plan on getting the updated shot anytime soon, according to polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The slow rollout comes as much of the country’s hard-won immunity, from vaccination or infection, is weakening. About half of adults have gotten the original booster, but its protection wanes after six months, and about a quarter of adults remain unvaccinated. As cases and hospitalizations tick up across Western Europe, potentially driven by new, more immune-evasive flavors of omicron, the sluggish booster campaign is leaving Americans — and hospital systems — more vulnerable to a winter wave.
“I would say I’m disappointed, but that’s not quite the right word, because being disappointed implies you had high expectations in the first place,” said Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. “The messaging has been so muddled,” he said.
The survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals the consequences of that muddled messaging:
51 percent of adults have only heard “a little” or “nothing at all” about the updated booster.
- That percentage dips slightly, to 41 percent, for those over 65
2 in 5 fully vaccinated adults aren’t sure whether the updated booster is recommended for them.
- 57 percent of seniors know they should get the booster, but 37 percent remain unsure
Only one-third of eligible adults intend to get the booster or have already, but there are stark differences based on political identity.
- 52 percent of Democrats vs. 11 percent of Republicans plan to get the booster as soon as possible
💉Read my full story on the rollout of the boosters.
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