People lined up at a COVID-19 testing center in Times Square, New York, USAOmicron, a new variant of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is spreading rapidly in the United States, but the inoculation rate of the vaccine booster shot (boost shot) is not keeping up with it, raising concerns.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 18th (local time) that only 1 in 6 Americans received a booster shot, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
If you narrowed it down to adults who were eligible for the booster shot six months after completing the vaccination, about 30% got the booster shot.
Even for the population aged 65 and over, which is considered the most vulnerable age group, the booster shot vaccination rate is a little over 50%.
In New York City, where new cases are continuously increasing, it was found that about 1.5 million people, or 18.8% of the population of more than 8 million, received a booster shot.
The delay is worrisome, as omicron mutations, which spread at an unprecedented rate, are known to evade the protective effects formed by conventional two doses of the vaccine.
In order to prevent infection with Omicron, it is safe to receive a booster shot, according to scientists, including infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
However, the opportunity for booster shot vaccination is significantly limited compared to this spring, when a large sports stadium such as Dodger Stadium was converted into a large-scale vaccine center.
Seattle-based computer programmer Patrick Carlson said his mother’s home in Oxnard, California, has four vaccination stations, but only one of them runs on weekends, and the weekend is fully booked until the end of this year.
The other one is completely empty until the end of this year.
Some say that the encouragement of booster shot vaccination only increased the rejection of the vaccine. G. Wyatt, from Phoenix, Arizona, asked, “What does it mean if you can’t catch (the virus) even after you get up to the 3rd dose?
Wyatt said he had not been vaccinated, but instead wore a mask diligently.
Some people still get confused even after being hit by a booster shot.
Jim and Geraldine Lemmond, an elderly couple in their 80s, said they had been given booster shots, but were still unsure whether the protection was sufficient, so they came to an emergency treatment clinic in Sacramento, California, to be tested for COVID-19.
COVID-19 in the United States continues to rise. According to the New York Times, on the 17th, the average daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States for the past 7 days was 125,838, up 20% from two weeks ago.
The average daily number of hospitalized patients increased by 18% to 68,600, and the average daily death rate increased by 15% to 1,284.
Long lines at New York’s COVID-19 testing stations, restaurants closing, and Broadway gigs and Christmas parties being canceled seem to have brought back to last year when there was no vaccine.
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