Updated Covid-19 Booster Adoption Is Still Sluggish

Nov, 2022 - By WMR

Local health officials are growing increasingly concerned that the spread of COVID-19, the flu, and RSV will pick up in the coming weeks as colder weather sets in, people spend more time indoors, and more holiday celebrations are planned, according to Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

This worry is made even greater by the fact that just a small percentage of Americans, aged 5 and older, have received the latest Covid-19 vaccination booster.

If you are qualified and able, you should have received your booster by now to protect you throughout the holidays, according to the advice of the local health authorities, Freeman said.

She explained that as time passes since receiving your previous booster shot, your immunity starts to weaken and you become more prone to contracting the virus once more. As we prepare for the end of the year and the approaching holiday season, all of those factors together indicate that prevention is something we need to start doing immediately.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that just 26 million Americans aged 5 and older, or less than 10% of the population, have received an updated Covid-19 booster shot. Older adults have the highest coverage rates; compared to adults under the age of 30, only about 1 in 15 seniors who received their primary series have also received an updated booster.

However, the rate of adoption is generally slow.

According to CDC data, 1 in 5 persons with main series indicate they will probably or definitely not get the updated booster. This percentage has not changed since at least September.

"The predicted increase that we foresee with Covid this winter will climb much more," Schaffner said, "if we still don't have universal adoption of this Covid booster." Therefore, we could worsen the season in terms of more serious diseases.