Three years into the Covid-19 pandemic, few Americans are rolling up their sleeves to get a Covid vaccine.
Only 15.7% of U.S. adults had received the newest Covid shots from Pfizer, Modernaand Novavax
as of Nov. 18, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those jabs, some of which won approval in mid-September, are designed to target the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.
“Here’s the bottom line: COVID-19 vaccine uptake is lower than we’d like to see, and most people will be without the added protection that can reduce the severity of COVID-19,” the CDC wrote in an update on its website last week.
Some vaccine makers and health experts believe U.S. Covid vaccination rates in 2024 and beyond will likely look similar to the meager uptake of the latest round of shots this fall and winter.
The bigger uncertainty appears to be whether rates could increase down the line — and what would cause more people to roll up their sleeves.
Covid shot uptake has dwindled since the first vaccines against the virus rolled out in late 2020, when Americans felt more urgency to protect themselves as cases soared.
This year, roughly half of adults who were previously vaccinated said a lack of worry about Covid is a reason why they haven’t gotten a new vaccine, including a quarter who called it a “major reason,” according to a poll released earlier this month by health policy research organization KFF.
Read more at CNBC.com
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