WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration hopes to make getting a COVID-19 booster as routine as going in for the yearly flu shot.
That’s at the heart of its campaign to sell the newly authorised shot to an American public that has widely rejected COVID-19 boosters since they first became available last fall.
Shots of the updated boosters, specifically designed by Pfizer and Moderna to respond to the Omicron strain, could start within days. The United States (US) government has purchased 170 million doses and is emphasising that everyone will have free access to the booster.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr Ashish Jha said this latest round of shots will offer protection during the busy cold and flu season, with the hope of transitioning people to get the vaccine yearly. Typically, at least half of US adults get a flu shot.
“We expect them to provide more durable protection over time,” Jha said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “The goal very much is to get to a point where people get their COVID shot on a regular basis, the way they do their flu shot.”
Community health workers in North Carolina, home to the country’s lowest COVID-19 booster rate, like the strategy, especially because of confusion among some people about vaccine schedules.
“I believe in keeping things simple,” said an outreach coordinator for the Mountain Area Health Education Center in western North Carolina Marty Stamey. “I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I think I’ll just wait and try to do it like the flu shots’.”
The White House plan also relies in part of on local health departments, providers and community groups to reach out and encourage people to get the updated booster.
Pharmacies, health providers and state or local health departments are preparing to send text messages to millions of people that will encourage them to get a booster this fall, White House officials said.
Jha said he recommends most Americans get the booster by the end of October.
Still, this latest vaccination campaign faces several challenges.
A majority of Americans got their first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine when it was released last year but they’ve been more reluctant to get a booster jab, with less than half getting their first booster since it became available late last year.
Congress also has not moved forward on President Joe Biden’s USD22.5 billion request earlier this year for the COVID-19 response. Republicans criticised the request, pointing to the USD1.9 trillion already spent on responding to the pandemic. Running short on funds, the government announced it would stop shipping COVID-19 tests to people’s homes after today.
