Fall campaign for COVID-19 shots is coming, but many Americans have moved on

The Biden-Harris administration wants Americans to roll up their sleeves for the new COVID-19 shot, but many Americans fear SARS-CoV-2 less than the flu virus, portending another lackluster fall campaign.

The Food and Drug Administration recently authorized shots from Pfizer and Moderna that target the KP.2 strain of the coronavirus, which is circulating now.

“Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on Thursday.

Yet only 22.5% of U.S. adults got the updated shot for the 2023-2024 season, compared with nearly half, or 48.5%, who showed up for a flu shot, according to federal data last updated in May.

Some healthy people who snapped up shots early in the pandemic no longer see the need to update their protection with yearly shots. They are leery of repeated vaccine injections that, studies show, offer limited protection against outright infection, even if they guard against severe disease.

“It is likely that interest in COVID vaccination has significantly waned over time, as evidenced by the past updated vaccine rollouts. There likely will be higher interest, which is appropriate, among high-risk individuals who will benefit the most,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Federal regulators told drugmakers to update their COVID-19 shots for variants starting in 2022 when it became clear that the first versions of the vaccine didn’t adequately match the circulating virus.

Some signs indicate that demand could increase — slightly — this year.

Dr. Adalja said this season’s shots should be a better match for what is circulating than the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 versions, which might drive some interest.

The Axios/Ipsos American Health Index released on Aug. 22 found roughly one-third of Americans (32%) consider contracting COVID-19 a large or moderate risk to their health. That is up from 27% who felt that way in June, likely driven by a summer surge in coronavirus infections.

Still, the rate of fear matches Americans’ concerns about catching the flu or respiratory syncytial virus, underscoring how the coronavirus is now considered yet another seasonal virus that can be managed.

Likewise, the Biden-Harris administration has launched a campaign for a vaccine that effectively treats COVID-19, flu and RSV as equals.

“The CDC is promoting this fall season as a time to protect ourselves against respiratory viruses, plural — the very bad viruses of winter,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University. “They’re trying to make this routine and letting everybody know, of course, these viruses change and so we update them each year.”

The Department of Health and Human Services’ “Risk Less. Do More” campaign will feature social media and digital ads. It will highlight the benefits of vaccination for the trifecta of viruses and prioritize audiences at high risk, such as adults 60 and older and people living in long-term care centers.

“Vaccines for COVID-19, flu, and RSV have helped to save millions of lives, keep countless people out of the hospital, and provided peace of mind for the country. As fall approaches and people spend more time indoors, I encourage everyone to protect themselves and their loved ones by getting vaccinated,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.

Only 3% of Americans viewed COVID-19 as the No. 1 health threat in the Axios/IPSOS index, compared with 20% of Americans who see fentanyl/opioids as the top threat, or 19% who cited obesity.

It’s a far cry from the height of the COVID-19 crisis, when people rushed to drive-in centers to get the first shots.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans received a two-dose primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine. Further shots have been a tougher sell, with closer to 1 in 5 Americans showing up for extra shots in subsequent years.

President Biden, who often takes credit for getting the country beyond the pandemic crisis, got the latest COVID-19 shot last year but did it in private without cameras present. His administration likes to call the yearly COVID-19 vaccine an “updated” shot instead of a “booster,” so people see it as an annual rite instead of a running tally of shots.

The administration declared an end to the public health emergency surrounding COVID-19 in early 2023, and fewer federal sources are available now to support COVID-19 immunization.

During the acute pandemic period, local health departments sent vaccination teams to people who couldn’t leave their homes or contracted with big pharmacies to send shots into nursing homes.

“That money has dried up,” Dr. Schaffner said. “We’re all having to do it the way we do influenza vaccines. We’re having to do it ourselves.”

He said if American society wants everyone to benefit from lifesaving shots, it should help people who don’t have health insurance or other resources.

“We have these powerful comprehensive recommendations for vaccines for all,” he said, but people cannot take advantage of them “unless we have money in the pocket.”

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.