Only 4 pct eligible Americans received new COVID-19 booster ahead of potential fall surge

LOS ANGELES - Early data shows that just over 11 million Americans, or about 4 percent of those eligible, have received the new bivalent COVID-19 booster shots, according to a report of The Washington Post.

Despite projections of a fall and winter COVID-19 wave with the potential to sicken millions and kill tens of thousands, few Americans get new COVID booster shots, said the report.

About half of Americans say they have heard little or nothing about the shots, according to a recent tracking poll by Kaiser Family Foundation.

An analysis by the Commonwealth Fund forecasts that about 90,000 COVID-19 deaths could be prevented this fall and winter if more people in the United States get their booster by the end of the year.

The lagging booster rate is blamed as a major contributor to the high COVID-19 mortality rate in the United States last winter and the continuing deaths of about 400 Americans on average each day caused by the virus.

As of Oct 6, about 68 percent of the US population is fully vaccinated with their initial series, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But less than half of the fully vaccinated population has received a booster dose.