U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden鈥檚 recent remark that 鈥渢he pandemic is over.鈥�
The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states.
Health experts said it is too early to predict whether demand would match up with the 171 million doses of the new boosters the U.S. ordered for the fall.
鈥淣o one would go looking at our flu shot uptake at this point and be like, 鈥極h, what a disaster,鈥欌�� said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 鈥淚f we start to see a large uptick in cases, I think we're going to see a lot of people getting the (new COVID) vaccine.鈥�
A temporary shortage of Moderna vaccine caused some pharmacies to cancel appointments while encouraging people to reschedule for a Pfizer vaccine. The issue was expected to resolve as government regulators wrapped up an inspection and cleared batches of vaccine doses for distribution.
鈥淚 do expect this to pick up in the weeks ahead,鈥� said White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been thinking and talking about this as an annual vaccine like the flu vaccine. Flu vaccine season picks up in late September and early October. We鈥檙e just getting our education campaign going. So we expect to see, despite the fact that this was a strong start, we actually expect this to ramp up stronger.鈥�
Some Americans who plan to get the shot, designed to target the most common omicron strains, said they are waiting because they either had COVID-19 recently or another booster. They are following public health advice to wait several months to get the full benefit of their existing virus-fighting antibodies.
Others are scheduling shots closer to holiday gatherings and winter months when respiratory viruses spread more easily.
Retired hospital chaplain Jeanie Murphy, 69, of Shawnee, Kansas, plans to get the new booster in a couple of weeks after she has some minor knee surgery. Interest is high among her neighbors from what she sees on the Nextdoor app.
鈥淭here鈥檚 quite a bit of discussion happening among people who are ready to make appointments,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚 found that encouraging. For every one naysayer there will be 10 or 12 people who jump in and say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e crazy. You just need to go get the shot.鈥欌��
Biden later acknowledged criticism of his remark about the pandemic being over and clarified the pandemic is 鈥渘ot where it was.鈥� The initial comment didn鈥檛 bother Murphy. She believes the disease has entered a steady state when 鈥渨e鈥檒l get COVID shots in the fall the same as we do flu shots.鈥�
Experts hope she's right, but are waiting to see what levels of infection winter brings. The summer ebb in case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths may be followed by another surge, Dowdy said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, asked Thursday by a panel of biodefense experts what still keeps him up at night, noted that half of vaccinated Americans never got an initial booster dose.
鈥淲e have a vulnerability in our population that will continue to have us in a mode of potential disruption of our social order," Fauci said. 鈥淚 think that we have to do better as a nation.鈥�
Some Americans who got the new shots said they are excited about the idea of targeting the vaccine to the variants circulating now.
鈥淕ive me all the science you can,鈥� said Jeff Westling, 30, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who got the new booster and a flu shot on Tuesday, one in each arm. He participates in the combat sport jujitsu, so wants to protect himself from infections that may come with close contact. 鈥淚 have no issue trusting folks whose job it is to look at the evidence.鈥�
Meanwhile, Biden鈥檚 pronouncement in a 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� interview broadcast Sunday echoed through social media.
鈥淲e still have a problem with COVID. We鈥檙e still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over,鈥� Biden said while walking through the Detroit auto show. 鈥淚f you notice, no one鈥檚 wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it鈥檚 changing.鈥�
By Wednesday on Facebook, when a Kansas health department posted where residents could find the new booster shots, the first commenter remarked snidely:
鈥淏ut Biden says the pandemic is over.鈥�
The president's statement, despite his attempts to clarify it, adds to public confusion, said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington.
鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 sure when is the right time to get boosted. 鈥楢m I eligible?鈥� People are often confused about what the right choice is for them, even where to search for that information,鈥� Michaud said.
鈥淎ny time you have mixed messages, it鈥檚 detrimental to the public health effort,鈥� Michaud said. 鈥淗aving the mixed messages from the president鈥檚 remarks, makes that job that much harder.鈥�
University of South Florida epidemiologist Jason Salemi said he's worried the president's pronouncement has taken on a life of its own and may stall prevention efforts.
鈥淭hat soundbite is there for a while now, and it鈥檚 going to spread like wildfire. And it鈥檚 going to give the impression that 鈥極h, there鈥檚 nothing more we need to do,鈥欌�� Salemi said.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e happy with 400 or 500 people dying every single day from COVID, there鈥檚 a problem with that,鈥� Salemi said. 鈥淲e can absolutely do better because most of those deaths, if not all of them, are absolutely preventable with the tools that we have.鈥�
New York City photographer Vivienne Gucwa, 44, got the new booster Monday. She鈥檚 had COVID twice, once before vaccines were available and again in May. She was vaccinated with two Moderna shots, but never got the original boosters.
鈥淲hen I saw the new booster was able to tackle omicron variant I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 doing that,鈥欌�� Gucwa said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to deal with omicron again. I was kind of thrilled to see the boosters were updated.鈥�
___
AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard and AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed. ___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press
