COVID-19 Booster Uptake Waning as New Variant Spreads

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to steadily increase some health experts are eagerly anticipating the approval of new boosters while others are less enthused about their potential.

That’s not to say that they believe the new COVID boosters will be ineffective, but rather that they will only be as effective as their uptake, which has decreased substantially since 2022.

As of May of this year, just 17% of Americans had received an up-to-date COVID booster. Among the most vulnerable in the population — those aged 65 and older — uptake was higher at 43.3%, but still well below levels seen when the initial boosters became available.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that vaccine manufacturers update booster shots to target XBB variants, which were the most dominant at the time. However, since then, the EG.5 variant, also known as “Eris,” has since surpassed the XBB strains; as of August 7, Eris accounted for 17% of cases in the U.S.

The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that hospitalizations are up by a little more than 12% compared to weeks prior, while COVID deaths have increased by 10%. Despite this, many health experts are not yet ready to sound the alarm on the latest variant.

“The new COVID strain is similar to previous strains from Omicron parentage,” George Rust, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Center for Medicine and Public Health at Florida State University, told The Messenger. “Each new strain is slightly more infectious and therefore out-competing its predecessors, but recent strains have not been more invasive or deadly.”

Dr. Rust and other experts have signaled that, due to EG.5’s lineage — it is a direct descendant of Omicron — the updated boosters should provide protection against contracting a serious case of the virus.

However, there is a concern that, given the decreases in boosters administered in 2022, the turnout of people seeking to get the new shots may be limited, especially among those who are most vulnerable to becoming seriously ill with COVID.

Dr. Rust said that this sort of limited uptake could result in “much less protection against severe illness,” which can lead to increased hospitalizations and deaths — two statistics that are already on the rise as of late.

The  FDA is expected to grant approval for both Pfizer and Moderna’s updated boosters in the coming weeks. Once approved, health officials have indicated that they will likely be available sometime in September.

But with the end of the public health emergency now in the nation’s rearview mirror, campaigns promoting awareness of the upcoming boosters are left to the manufacturers themselves. And both Pfizer and Moderna have signaled that they expect demand for the shots to decline.

Despite what could be construed as a potentially bleak turnout, Dr. Rust told The Messenger that the boosters still hold value in preventing severe infections.

“I would encourage all of us, but especially those of us older folks and those with chronic conditions, to stay current on our COVID vaccinations,” he said.