SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Bivalent COVID-19 boosters are available across the country for people five and up. However, health experts are concerned with the rates of vaccination.
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Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist at UCSF, told KCBS Radio’s "As Prescribed" he believes we're suffering from booster fatigue.
"We're not doing very well, even in adults," he admitted. "With the new boosters I think there's less than 10% of eligible adults who have gotten boosted so far, but part of it might be that we're not seeing a lot of cases right now."
Vaccine behavior follows the ebb and flow of sickness in the community. If you don't see a lot, you won't feel the urgency to get the new booster shot, Chin-Hong explained.
"I think there's just a lot of vaccine fatigue," he said. "People just want to think about other things."
In September, President Biden declared that the "pandemic is over." "That probably hasn't helped with the public sentiment that we need to still protect ourselves, still keep our guard up, not be worried about it or change holiday plans, but just knowing that it's still very present," Chin-Hong said.
Due to a current spike in case rates in Europe, health experts believe cases will soon surge in the United States as new variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 take hold. To get ahead of this looming increase and prepare your antibodies, it is recommended that Americans get the booster within the next few months.
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