1y ago

2% of kids and 7% of adults have gotten the new COVID shots, US data show

apnews.com 2% of kids and 7% of adults have gotten the new COVID shots, US data show

More than a month after federal officials recommended a new version of the COVID-19 vaccines, 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of children have gotten a shot.

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.

129 comments

Just got mine today. There were a couple hiccups for me though.
First is communication. I didn't know these were available until a family member mentioned it. The pharmacy has signs for flu shots, why not covid?
Second, supply. I tried making an appointment a week ago, but they didn't have any, so I had to wait until now.
Finally is insurance. My provider is fantastically opaque about whether they'd cover it. I didn't know if I'd have to pay for the shot until I saw $0 on the receipt.
To say this has been fumbled would be an understatement. I'm not convinced that any agencies or companies are even trying to get people vaxxed.
- Regarding insurance, the CDC has a program to provide free vacinations to those who are not covered by insurance. All you need to do is go to a participating pharmacy. They will bill the CDC program if they cannot bill insurance.
  To find a participating pharmacy, go to https://www.vaccines.gov/ and select the Bridge Access Program filter after making the search.
  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html
  
  This is super helpful. As somebody without insurance, I was hoping to not have to pay out of pocket for it. Had no idea about this program.
  
  Fuck, wish I had known about this a month ago before I paid out the ass for my shot. Oh well.
  Doing good work helping other people not get screwed like me lol.
  
  When I got to the pharmacy I was sent to by the .gov website, I at first couldn't find my insurance card in my bag, and they weren't going to give me the shot, even though the .gov site said it wasn't needed.
  And even though I had entered all the correct insurance information asked on the website form in order to book the appointment.
  Eventually I found my old card and it had enough of the right information (prescription bin, specifically) that they were able to bill my insurance.
  So, if you don't have insurance, be sure that's known when you book the appointment. If you do, bring your card.
  I also had 4 appointments cancelled because they were out of vaccine. Even the tech who was only able to give me my flu shot was upset, because she and her extended family were planning on getting their Covid shots and couldn't, so we bonded over our distress.
- Once the government bowed out of it, the private sector just completely bungled it. My pharmacy said I was much easier and productive to buy from the govt. My kids doc said it's been a nightmare dealing with these companies (the rsv one too).
  Logistics aside, you are right about comms. People have no clue there is a new one. It doesn't have a good name. At least "bivalent" distinguished between the OG vaccines and the new one.

What were they expecting when the government stopped paying for it? We already know the normal American healthcare system is garbage, this is the result of that.
It cost me $400 to get my gf and her son vaccinated, that'll get reimbursed by insurance... eventually, probably. That's going to be a barrier for a lot of people, just like always.
- They did? I got mine at Walgreens, not even a mention of payment or insurance. I just walked in, got it, walked out.
  
  Hi, I'm a pharmacist
  They probably did an eligibility check and found your insurance using the info you provided on the consent form.
  If you're in the non insured group, they are partnered with the government to have it covered regardless
  
  Impressive since that means that Walgreens just ate the cost of your shot.
- Tell them you don't have insurance, also refuse to show them your ID. The vaccine is free to anyone who wants it in territory controlled by the US government. Last booster I got I stood my ground.
  Insurance?
  Doesn't matter since the vaccine is free
  So you don't have insurance?
  Again. Vaccine is free.
  I need your insurance information.
  No, you really don't. The bill goes to the US government not the insurance company and you are clearly asking so your employer can get me into your system. I don't have to say anything about my insurance and I won't. So if you want to write down no on your form you can but I am not going to tell you one way or another.

Lets block the vaccine by age group and use poor messaging and then be confused when nobody gets the shot. Also im waiting till mid November so im good for Thanksgiving through new years and i suspect others are as well.
- use poor messaging
  Speaking of, isn't the U.S. now charging for them/requiring insurance? Add that to the mix and of course fewer will get it.
  
  No. The CDC Bridge Access Program is set to run through December 2024. As long as you go to a participating pharmacy, the Covid vaccine is free regardless of insurance status.
  You can search on vaccines.gov for participating pharmacies.
  
  Yea ive heard it should still be free but im not sure, i wont know till i get it in a couple weeks
  
  Yeah, pretty much any insurance will cover it in-network, but in my experience they're not really trying to communicate that to people.
  Flu shots, by comparison, are almost universally covered by insurance or in some cases even by employers directly, and my email gets blown up annually with reminders to get one.
- Just make sure it's at least 7 days before you actually need to go celebrate something. Apparently that's how long it takes for the booster to be effective.
  
  Yep! I plan to do it 2 weeks before Thanksgiving so ill be good for the holiday shopping craze
- This is literally the first I've heard of a new vaccine recommendation. And I had a Dr appointment less than a month ago.

I went out the doctor last week, and they not only didn't offer it, they acted like I was insane for asking, and for wearing a mask into a building full of sick people. The medical profession in the US needs a major overhaul.
- Might need to find a new doctor or state.
  
  Working on both, but neither is fast. It took me 3 months to get into this doctor, only to find out they are a nut job.
- That was my experience. They gave me a flu shot, but didn't even mention COVID. I just went to the drug store and got one there.
- That's weirdly 180 degrees opposite of my experience.
  Are you sure you're being 100% honest? Where do you live? There are ads for these at my grocery store. Not to mention the doctors office, and they still ask you to wear masks.
  Of course, wearing masks is what we should do if we suspect we're sick. It's the sick/well kid's waiting room at the pediatrician.
  
  I had a similar experience. Life is different in some red states.
  
  Yes, that's life in the South sadly. I haven't seen a doctor wear a mask in two years.

I got the new COVID shot a week and a half ago and now I'm sick. Coincidence?
Yes. Stupid head cold.
- Why I oughta...wish you a speedy recovery!

And here in Finland no one can't even buy the new shots, they are only for people over 65 or at-risk-groups.
- In the US its similar. Right now im working with a young man with disabilities and even getting him the shot is tough, no ones publicly saying where its avaliabe and who its avaliabe to, and if I wasn't digging as part of a job I wouldn't know jack about them. It's no surprise few have gotten these shots, few know about them, I'd wager most Americans don't know they're out.
  
  I literally walked into a rite aid and got it in 20 mins.
  
  I walked into Walgreens and got my flu and COVID shots together. I'm 30. They have big signs saying they have the updated vaccines walk in ready.
  
  Where is the USA are you? The supply is plentiful near me.
  
  Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Wegmans. Plenty of places in my area to get them that's not even counting doctors offices.
- That’s the official line in the UK - free covid jabs are only available to those who’d be eligible for the flu jab anyway. But when I went to have mine done the other day they did my partner’s flu + covid on the spot too, no fuss. The pharmacist said that turn out has been so low they’ve been told to give it to anyone who asks.
- I don't think there's been a lot of interest. Nobody seems to be talking about it. I had no idea there was a new vaccine or that anyone was still given a covid vaccine
  Can you get one from private side if you really want one?

Til there's another one. Not sarcastic but yeah I didn't know it was available

I wonder how many people haven't gotten it because of inconvenient side effects. Every shot I've gotten completely knocks me out for a day. Sweats, fever, aches, basically can't do anything but lay in bed all day the next day. Better than getting it, but I can't spare a whole day to be sick just for a vaccine. Can't afford to take a sick day.
- I understand what you are saying but if you can't afford a sick day, you can't afford to actually get sick with it.
- It does for me too but i got COVID way back at the start, before there were vaccines or stuff, and it's probably the sickest i've ever been. The only contenders were getting stomach flu in the middle of the Boundary Water Canoe Area or that time i got swine flu. The former i thought my insides were shutting down, it was misery. The latter my with made me come in even though i was sick and the rest of the workplace got it and a bunch of people ended up in the hospital. COVID was more recent so there's some bias there but it was at least top 3.
  I'm getting whatever vaccination i can until there's clearly no more need.
- Got it yesterday. Shoulder is sore as hell, but it's not nearly as bad as actually having COVID. Still, yeah it's a huge barrier.
- I got J&J the first time around and it made me sleep the rest of the day, just absolutely walloped me. But every booster I've had since then was super easy - no side-effects whatsoever except mild injection site soreness which went away in a day. I got the latest booster on Tuesday and by the end of the day I'd forgotten I even got it until I undressed for bed and saw the bandaid.
- I’ll take that over another round of Covid. Got it last winter and it knocked me out for 10 days
- My wife and I got the first two and it knocked us out for almost a week. Not getting it again.
- Just get it and go to work sick. They must want that since they limited your sick time. Either that or do it as late as possible Sunday night

I think it's the fact it's hard to find, at least in my state it was difficult, every place either was fully booked or had none. I had planned originally to go to my community center for a Vax day and then it was canceled because they had none
- I got mine at Costco. Flu shot in one arm, covid in the other
- CVS has been pretty reliably on top of both of the updated vaccine rollouts and has them in stock. I got it with the flu shot a month ago now and had no trouble finding it.
  
  Yeah I think now it's no problem but the roll out was terrible, I bet the numbers go up now that it's widely available
- My Safeway still doesn't have it.

I have been trying! All the CVS near me don't seem to have it and Walgreens canceled my appointment last week and I had to reschedule for weeks from now, im assuming also due to supply issues.
- The Walgreens near me have been struggling to even keep regular hours for prescription pickups for over a year let alone doing vaccines.
  
  Something, something free market.

Isn't the biggest issue with distribution? I asked to get the shot last month along with my flu shot at my doctor's and they weren't given any.
- A month ago when I looked there were none. Today every pharmacy in my area has them including grocery stores. Give it another check and see.
- Same. I have a follow-up appointment in half a month and I'll ask about it again, otherwise I'll just find a pharmacy.

It's not really well broadcasted, I got it by pure chance when I asked about it while getting my flu vax. Also I'm sure plenty are fatigued from shots at this point and stopped caring.

I sure as hell got it. I'm no fool.

Guess my wife and I are part of the 7%-ers. We got ours last Saturday. CVS has plenty of appointments. I was fine, arm a little sore the next day. My wife pretty much slept most of the weekend. She's fine now too.
- I was cross eyed for half a day the next day.
  But a day after that, completely fine. If that knocks off a couple weeks of shitty covid symptoms, that's a massive win to me.

I have small children. I've had COVID three times (that I'm aware of; the last time I got it I just thought I had allergies and did a home test on a lark that was positive).
Having small children in daycare/early grade school, where if your kid has covid means parents have to take five days off of work to stay home with their kids to follow the isolation protocols means kids are always being sent in with covid and parents don't report it, because then they have to follow an isolation protocol instead of their best judgment. Every time I've got covid, I caught it from my kids, who get it from other kids. I imagine I'm about as immunized as you can be at this point.
When our kids are positive, we keep them home and follow the isolation protocols, which is a privilege we have. But, I'll be honest: seems pretty fucking pointless. And each time they've gotten it, we only know because we randomly test them when I hear other parents mentioning they had covid but the kids seemed fine so they sent them in. They've had symptoms once. They've had several colds that have been AWFUL, but none of those were covid.
Covid for my kids is a positive test. That's usually the only symptom. I can understand why parents just send them in to school. Yet there are no formal policies requiring a pediatrician visit and a negative test for the flu, or for a bad cold. Just COVID.
It's really, really absurd, and working parents that I know just treat covid like any other cold: if it's bad enough that the kids are miserable, they stay home, otherwise, they go in. It's not the case if you have an immunodeficiency or are very old, but that's true of every illness for those groups. As far as I can tell, parents have moved past covid. It's just another illness that kids get.
Young children get sick as often as 12-18 times a year. Acting like covid, which has been in the population for some time now, is still some big bogeyman does an injustice to the actual illnesses that cause disruption. Frankly, it's a virus that has now become a political bellwether, which is incredibly, incredibly stupid.
Idk about everyone else, but this is getting ridiculous now for our family. We're doing our best to continue to follow guidance, but even the pediatrics department basically rolls their eyes about covid, because overworked parents have to come in and get a permission slip to send their kids back to school.
- In March of 2019 I made a comment online pointing out that US work culture wouldn't respond effectively to COVID and that soon we would be right back to sending people to work sick because the God Economy matters more than public health.
  The reason everyone is rolling their eyes is because no one ever really took it seriously. Those with the most money were able to get treatments and isolate themselves easily. They still are able to. The number of CEOs who demand return to office while also not showing up to the office themselves is quite high.
  We were always disposable. There are effective ways to continue to handle this, but no one in charge wants to spend time or money on those things.

I’d get it but I haven’t heard anything about where to get it
- Pharmacies and general practitioners, just like any other vaccine
- https://www.vaccines.gov/
  Check which company is in bed with your insurance provider before making an apartmen appointment.
  If you're uninsured, I believe it's free, but don't take my word on it.

Go to an independent pharmacy and get it. Thx.

We didn't do it like the first round. There should just be public centers established and people go there. Now they are saying you can only get them at pharmacies and with insurance. So of course it is a failure. The harder you make something the less people will do it.

I only got the shots I got because I had to now that it's optional I don't bother but it's the same with the flu shot. It's not that I'm anti anything I just don't get them.
- Yeah I feel that. Not like I go outside anyways so why bother. Despite that I still got the shots cause my mom told me to.

I got covid a week before the shots came out, I'm waiting until February per my docs recommendation.
- I believe this is one of the main reasons for low uptake right now.. Many people have gotten COVID once students returned to school in late August/early September. They should've released the COVID vaccine early August - waiting to couple it with the flu vaccine was a terrible idea.

I just got mine along with a flu vaccine yesterday. At around 5pm I went to the CVS website and made an appointment for 2 hours later, it was pretty simple.

I suspect a lot of people will, it's just been an issue of supply - nextdoor has been full of posts from people saying they went to nearby pharmacies and no one had it. Kaiser was doing it by appointment to make sure they had enough, but they just called me this week to say I can do a walk-in now. My appointment is Friday, so no real sense changing it, but it's nice that it's more accessible.

I forgor 💀

Is there a newer version than the bivalent one? Are those strains the ones currently circulating?
- You didn't know? Covid vaccine is now an annual vaccine, the new one is 2023/2024.
  
  Communication has been absolutely awful. I learned about it through Lemmy. My wife had no idea there is a new one. This is not ideal.
  
  I wish there was a way they could have a single vaccine that included both COVID and flu.

I just got covid. My doctor told me to wait a little before getting the shot to expand my immunity
- That is correct, you should wait at least 3 months for the next one, but make sure to get it then!
  
  Oh I definitely will. I do NOT want to go though this again. That was my first time getting COVID and I hated the whole month it took to recover (sinus infection dragged on)

I guess I am stupid but I thought we were supposed to wait until the critical risk group got them first. Well, alright I will get the 5th booster this weekend.
Thanks lemmy

Won't somebody think of Pfizers quarterly revenue gains!
- Won't anybody think of big pharma?

Wife and I got our boosters a few days ago, and had no issues other than a little soreness the next day. I do think that the pharmacies and doctors aren't promoting it like they have done before. Not even a sign up at our pharmacy that the Covid booster was available. They advertise the Flu shot, but not Covid.

Tried to get one at my PCP and was told I had to go to a pharmacy. Went to my pharmacy and they haven't received it yet. Checked in again today and they still don't have it.
- In the US the previous vaccine rollouts were managed by a 4-star General who handled the logistics so well it seemed like vaccines 'magically' appeared where and when they were needed. This year was the first time doing it completely in the private sector and we are witnessing how good corporations are at bungling an operation that features a clear playbook from the prior two years.

People are over covid. No one cares about it anymore. I think this is due to bad government messaging during covid.
- Yes, it is in fact about the POTUS being a fucking moron that dismantled the pandemic response team and spewed nonsense about the CDC and vaccines on a daily basis.
  
  The CDC was part of that.
  Faucci was right about masks because he has publicly endorsed every possible stance on the subject during the pandemic.

Mine is scheduled for next week, so that I have maximum protection through the end of February.

What did they think was going to happen when they stopped operating public vaccination sites?

I was waiting until a little closer to Thanksgiving, but I just had a long extended exposure, so now I'm just waiting 5 days so if that if I just got exposed i can wait for Christmas to extend my immunity

I got the jab plus two boosters and I still got Covid twice. I credit the vaccine for helping my body prepare itself to fight it off, but I feel like my immunity is high enough at this point to not concern myself with getting an annual booster, especially if I have to pay for it out of pocket. Plus the side effects are pretty severe compared to the mild viral symptoms I usually experience.
- Agreed. I haven't got COVID at all but had to get the vaccine for work. Worst week of my life.

While the daily number of cases and deaths are announced every day, why did the governments not disclose the vaccinated/unvaccinated rates in the number of cases and deaths, so that we could understand the difference (if any) ?

129 comments