By Mike Stobbe
A month after federal officials recommended new versions of COVID-19 vaccines, 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of children have gotten a shot.
One expert called the rates “abysmal.”
The numbers, presented Thursday at a meeting held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, come from a national survey of thousands of Americans, conducted two weeks ago.
The data also indicated that nearly 40% of adults said they probably or definitely will not get the shot. A similar percentage of parents said they did not plan to vaccinate their children.
In the late summer, government health officials made the nation's COVID-19 vaccination campaign more like the annual flu campaign.
Officials approved updated shots that have a single target, an omicron descendant named XBB.1.5. They replaced vaccines that targeted the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version. Last month, the CDC recommended the new shots for everyone 6 months and older.
The government also transitioned to a commercialized system that relied on the health-care industry — not the government — to handle the distribution of the shots. Many people who immediately went for shots said pharmacies or doctors didn't have them.
Americans have been urged to get different iterations of the vaccines for more than 2/12 years. This year, COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations fell to lower levels than seen in the previous three years.
Cases remain low compared with the pandemic's early months. Even so, health officials say about 18,000 hospitalization and 1,200 deaths are still being reported each week.
One expert at the meeting, Dr. Camille Kotton of Harvard Medical School, called the numbers “abysmal” and said part of the problem may be patient confusion. She urged stepped-up public education efforts.
Dr. David Kimberlin, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also expressed dismay.
“The recommendations are not being heard," he said.
Dr. Patrice Harris, speaking to Cheddar the day after her tenure at the American Medical Association ended, leaves the nation’s largest association of physicians at a time of remarkable upheaval for the medical community.
New Zealand appears to have eradicated the coronavirus for now after health officials said the last known infected person has recovered.
Federal health authorities have received reports of nearly 26,000 nursing home residents dying from COVID-19, according to materials prepared for the nation's governors. That number is partial and likely to go higher.
President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. will be terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization.
Phil Ginsburg, Abbott's Head of Infectious Disease, told Cheddar that new data shows the ID Now quick-results test for coronavirus is accurate if used as intended.
The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit has been called off with 16 minutes to go in the countdown because of the danger of lightning.
Visitation to National Park Service sites has seen a boom in recent years. For five years in a row, the park service has tallied over 300 million visitors per year. It’s an unprecedented spike, and the reason why this is happening now goes deeper than social media alone. While the threat of COVID-19 will likely change those numbers this year, the park service is still figuring out how to regain the balance between preservation and visitation. Cheddar explains the history of crowding in America’s national parks, and the impacts we are seeing from that today.
NASA is rolling out the International Space Station's red carpet for Tom Cruise.
Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed.
Forecasters say the odds of acceptable conditions have improved to 60% for Wednesday's planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon rocket with two NASA astronauts.
