Survey finds un-boosted against COVID are skeptical, unaware of eligibility
A newly released survey found that the most common reasons vaccinated people haven't received the updated COVID-19 booster are because they don’t know they are eligible or assume they are still immune against infection and severe disease without it.
Others surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they didn’t know the bivalent booster is available while others questioned its effectiveness and were concerned about possible side effects.
“This is what I’m seeing when I talk to friends and people out there,” said Dr. Leonard Krilov, an infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone — Long Island. “I think just globally we are in the COVID fatigue stage of development. Everybody’s tired of hearing about it and talking about it.”
Health experts have been trying to determine why so few people across the U.S. have received the booster, which became available in September. It was designed to provide protection against the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 as well as some of the omicron subvariants that emerged one year ago.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A new survey released Thursday by the CDC shows vaccinated people who didn't get the updated COVID-19 booster shot either weren't aware they were eligible or didn't know the shot was available.
- Others said they had concerns about effectiveness of the shot and believed they already had immunity against COVID-19 infection.
- Experts said trusted public health educators should work with communities to dispel misinformation and doctor's offices should make the shots more available during routine visits.
CDC data shows just 15.9% of eligible people 5 years of age or older in the U.S. — or about 49.6 million — have received the updated booster. By comparison, more than 73% of that eligible population or 228 million people, have completed their primary COVID-19 vaccine series.
On Long Island, 14.5% of the eligible population 5 years of age or older have received the updated booster in Suffolk County while the figure is 16.7% for Nassau County.
The online survey of 1,200 vaccinated people was conducted between Nov. 1 and Dec. 10, 2022. Researchers said 396 said they had received the updated booster while 714 did not. The balance were people who had either only received 1 vaccine dose or were unsure if they had received a booster.
More than 23% of respondents said they were not aware they were eligible for the booster while 19% said they didn't know the booster was available. Close to 19% thought they already had immunity against infection.
More than 67% of respondents said they planned to get the booster after viewing information. A follow-up question one month later showed about 28% reported getting the shot.
The reasons respondents had not received the booster shot varied somewhat by age. For respondents who were 60 and older, the most common response was they believed they were already protected against infection, followed by concerns about side effects.
“There is a lot of ongoing misinformation about negative side effects on your health from receiving the vaccine, none of which are true,” said Dr. Peter Silver, chief quality officer at Northwell Health.
“I think there's a sense of reassurance that the virus now is more mild,” said Silver. “The hospitals aren't in surge, and the mortality rates are much lower than they've been. But the fact is that the booster vaccine is still protective against severe illness, hospitalization, or death … so it’s still the smart thing to do.”
Krilov also noted there hasn’t been the same push for boosters from the federal government compared with the original COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
“The other argument I hear is similar to the argument about flu vaccine,” he said. “People say they can still get COVID-19 if they get the vaccine … we haven't done as good a job transmitting the message that while it would be ideal to have a vaccine that totally prevents infection or any disease, modifying the disease and making it milder is an important thing.”
Questions about the effectiveness of the booster have also been raised by Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease and vaccine expert who serves on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel that reviews the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
In his recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Offit points to data showing the updated bivalent booster was not more effective than previous boosters and argued that boosters should be targeted for older people and others at risk of severe disease, instead of trying to prevent symptomatic illness in healthy, young people.
Bobby Brooke Herrera, assistant professor at the Rutgers Global Health Institute, said there are several steps public health officials and local governments can take to increase the number of people getting the booster shot, including combating misinformation.
Herrera said in an email to Newsday that public health ambassadors should be trained to disseminate important health information in their communities. More health care providers should offer the vaccine and booster during patients visits which could help battle mistrust.
In addition, a comprehensive messaging system ranging from postcards and text messages to emails and autodialed phone calls should be used to inform patients about upcoming vaccines and boosters.
“This strategy addresses equity, access, forgetfulness and lack of information,” Herrera said.
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
