The rollout of the updated COVID-19 booster shots in the U.S. is off to a slow start. By the end of last week, the Biden administration expected between 13 million and 15 million people to receive the updated shot. That’s about 5% of the Americans eligible for the shot, which has been available for roughly six weeks.
The slow start might not be a surprise to many. After all, vaccination rates lessened with each additional COVID-19 shot that was authorized, and coronavirus cases have been on the decline for months.
But this COVID-19 booster shot is different. It’s the first time the vaccine has been updated to match circulating variants, and U.S. health officials have pushed it as a way to potentially reduce infections in addition to hospitalizations and deaths. It’s also the first test for a possible shift to an annual coronavirus shot much like how the flu shot is offered.