So, for those who don't know, some time in the past month, the FDA authorized the new covid booster aimed at the omicron variants, giving Americans updated protection against mutations of the coronavirus that were increasingly invading the original vaccine. And....only 4% have gotten it so far. So what gives? Why aren't people getting it? Well I have a few explanations for it.
1) Not enough info out
I'm going to be honest, I was anticipating the booster shot for a while, given it's been a year since my last shot and I knew this was coming, but even I missed this. I mean, they didnt make it widely known the day it came out, and I only found out like a week later when my dad of all people was paging through news articles. Meanwhile me, who is normally in the know? I didn't know. I kept looking and it was like, no not yet. Whenever I googled fourth shot i got linked to the page from earlier this year talking about the fourth shot for immunocompromised people. I didnt get any info on this specific booster. And if I didn't get it, imagine the people not paying much attention.
2) Disliking vaccine side effects
I'm going to be honest, I was on vacation at the time and my parents refused to even look into getting the shot until we got home. This is because the vaccine has had a habit of taking us out of action for a day afterward. My parents always got hit hard by it, and me, it's been a mixed bag. For most shots I just got a sore arm and was maybe a little tired the next day but that one second shot I had caused me to have a splitting headache for the next day, and severe flu like symptoms that left me bedridden.
Not wanting to deal with this on vacation, we waited until we got home.
The booster went fine. my parents had some symptoms, and with me, I just had a mildly sore arm and kept feeling hot flashes once in a while as it caused me to have a fever. But I was fine and functioned mostly normally.
I could see how this could cause some to delay their shot, if not keep procrastinating hard on it.
3) Providers make it a pain in the neck to get it
When i got back home one of the first things we did was go to get our boosters. Most places didn't make it easy. I scanned the potential places that had it, and most claimed they accepted walk ins. We wanted to do walk ins, because setting up appointments for all of us is a pain in the neck and we all want to get the shot at the same time. But....you know how hard it is to find a place to do the booster if you just walk in? It's not easy. It felt like we were back to February 2021 where everyone refused us. Eventually we got it at walmart and were allowed to just walk in to get it, but it took about a week of looking into other places before we could just get it there. yeah, sure we could all fill out forms to do it online, but this is slow, takes a while, and if there's high demand there's no guarantee we could all get in at the same time. Getting the shot is actually a logistical nightmare and more places should allow walk ins to make it easier.
4) Most people don't care about COVID any more
I hate to say it, but when 2022 started, Biden just rolled over on COVID. He stopped fighting for masks, lockdowns, vaccines. The right won the court of public opinion as doing the right thing became uncomfortable and inconvenient, so we largely stopped fighting for it. After all, mid terms are coming up and running on lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates are political suicide. Doesn't mean the virus isnt still out there, and isn't still dangerous. Nothing really changed. But we just started to accept it. if you got vaccinated, cool, if you didn't cool. Most got vaxxed, with 80% of people having at least one dose of vaccine and 68% being "fully vaccinated", but only around half that number, or 33% even got the first booster. And if you go outside, virtually no one wears masks any more. No one cares any more, so the 4% that got the shot are the only ones who are proactive enough to care. They are knowledgeable, they stay on top of it, and they actively waited for the fourth shot. Most Americans have the memory of a goldfish. For them, the pandemic is over, and when our public officials stop pushing it, then people will stop getting it.
5) Problem of the future: vaccines will no longer be free
In keeping with Biden rolling over on COVID, he's going to stop buying up vaccine stockpiles in 2023, meaning that it's going to be turned over to the private sector. Which means that this little taste of single payer that we've had will be gone. What they have is what they have, and if you want the shot for free, you better get it, like now. Otherwise you might need to pay, and have insurance, and blah blah blah. Which is just going to screw over those without insurance. Even with insurance you'll probably have to pay for it somewhat. But yeah, if people go "gee why isnt anyone getting the shot?" next year around this time, this is why. Because the Biden administration is rolling over on covid and is intent on fully returning to normal, even if it throws people under the bus. *sigh*
Conclusion
All in all, the booster rollout has had low turnout because of a combination of factors, including lack of information about the booster and the need for it, people putting it off due to poor timing, providers making it a pain in the neck to get it, and general apathy from a public that has put their minds to other things. People would rather return to normal than continue to care about covid, and the right essentially won this battle in the culture war. While we could do better in the sense that the government could advertise the needs to get the booster better, and providers could make it easier to get simply by not being so bureaucratic, all in all, the majority of the public hasn't even gotten their THIRD shot yet, so them getting the fourth just doesn't even register with them.
I really wish Biden didn't roll over to the manbabies on the right on this issue. It's a public health issue and while I am generally very libertarian, I am perfectly fine with pushing people to do things if there's a clear public health benefit to it, or alternatively people would be harmed if we don't do it. And in this case that qualifies.
Anyway, if you didn't know you can get your fourth shot, get your fourth shot. if you havent gotten your third, get your third, and then your fourth, at your medical provider's discretion. If you aren't protected at all, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, GET OUT THERE AND GET THE FREAKING SHOT. Seriously, covid isn't something to screw around with. While it's very survivable with the vaccine, without it it's like a super flu from hell with an extremely high death rate that shreds peoples' lungs like crazy. Don't screw around with this. It's safe, it's free, go get it.
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