Say, Why Aren’t More Eligible Americans Getting Boosters?

Look, for me, I have no problem getting a booster. If this stuff is still around in April, I’ll get another booster if recommended. I’m not in the danger group. I’m under 55, and, while I could lose about 25 pounds, I’m at the gym 3-5 times a week, get in at least 10K steps a day, and I’m generally pretty healthy. I just like to sprain and break bones. I also despise getting sick. Maybe people aren’t getting boosters because they don’t think they’re helpful, since they all seem to lose power at about 6 months?

3 reasons why the U.S. vaccine booster drive is sputtering

Only about 40.3% of eligible Americans have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, according to CDC data, despite public health officials agreeing that the extra dose is the best defense against severe outcomes as the highly-transmissible Omicron version of the coronavirus circulates.

Doctors told Yahoo Finance that three primary factors are contributing to the booster drive’s struggles: confusing messaging from public health officials, misconceptions about the severity of the Omicron variant, and increased political polarization related to the pandemic.

“Much of the issue comes down to clarity of messaging,” Dr. Anand Swaminathan, a New Jersey-based emergency medicine physician, told Yahoo Finance. “We need to be crystal clear about what vaccines are intended to do, the fact they don’t work on an individual level but on a population level, and why and when boosters are recommended and for whom.”

Maybe that’s one of the problems, this whole “we’re in this together” stuff, which we’ve heard for 2 years now, which required all sorts of restrictions, lockdowns, forced masking, etc. You lived it, you know it. Many states have little to no restrictions (we really should be doing some form of pushing washing hands, avoid contact, and keep at least 3 feet distance), and many nations, such as Denmark, are doing away with everything. We need to learn to live with this, just like we have with the flu. The 1918 Spanish flu killed a much higher percentage of Americans than COVID, around 6 per 100K, vs COVID with 1 to 2 per 100K.

Anyhow, the article gives Reasons, but, it seems to forget that Omicron tends to evade the vaccines, even with a booster. Some countries, like Israel, are on their 2nd booster, and still getting hit. And people are kinda over this. Even if the Chinese flu isn’t done with us. Even lots of Democrats are over it, even while they’re president is pushing N95 masks and testing.

Yet, interestingly, the Biden admin has forgotten to research new and better treatments. It’s almost like they do not want this to end. Not sure why, since polls are not going Biden’s way on his handling of COVID.

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