Getting an updated Covid-19 boosters is the "most important thing" people can do for their health today, according to White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.
The US Food and Drug Association has approved updated booster shots made by Pfizer and Moderna in August. They are bivalent, meaning they target the original coronavirus strain as well as the more infectious Omicron subvariants.
"Our message is very simple: Don't wait. Get vaccinated. Go get vaccinated now; get it before Halloween so you are ready before Thanksgiving and Christmas and the holidays," Jha said.
His warning comes after reports this week that the US does not have an "adequate" number of Covid tests for this winter, because of lack of congressional funding. Jha said the Biden administration had to "pull resources to make sure we had enough vaccines."
But booster take-up so far has been sluggish. Only about 11.5 million people in the US have gotten an updated Covid booster, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Commonwealth Fund in New York has warned that if booster uptake continues to rise at its current low rate, thousands of lives may be lost this fall and winter.
According to the fund, about 90,000 Covid deaths could be prevented over the next six months if 80% of those eligible actually get their booster shots.
More than 936,000 hospitalizations would be prevented and $56 billion in medical costs avoided compared to the baseline scenario in which vaccinations rise at their current rate, the fund added.
"We rank very poorly in our acceptance of vaccines," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday during a webinar.
"Somehow we've got to get down to the root cause of that, and I know it's going to be very complicated because a lot of it is because of political divisiveness," Fauci said.
Europe's booster campaign has also gotten off to a stuttering start. Infection rates have risen across the continent as temperatures fall and people spend more time inside.
Public health experts warn that vaccine fatigue and confusion over the types of shots available will likely limit booster uptake.
The European Union recorded 1.5 million cases last week, up 8% from the previous week, according to data from the World Health Organization. And that's despite low testing rates that may make many cases go unreported.
The number of people hospitalized with Covid in the 27-nation bloc has also risen in recent weeks. But the new Covid-19 wave has not been met with clear public health messaging.
Omicron-adapted vaccines were launched in Europe in September, with two updated booster shots made available alongside existing first-generation vaccines. But experts fear some people in Europe may be confused about which vaccine to get – particularly those returning for their fourth or fifth shots.
"The messaging that it is all over coupled with the lack of any major publicity campaign is likely to reduce uptake," Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.
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