A month after federal officials recommended new versions of COVID-19 vaccines, 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of children have gotten a shot.
One expert called the rates “abysmal.”
The numbers, presented Thursday at a meeting held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, come from a national survey of thousands of Americans, conducted two weeks ago.
The data also indicated that nearly 40% of adults said they probably or definitely will not get the shot. A similar percentage of parents said they did not plan to vaccinate their children.
Just got mine today. There were a couple hiccups for me though.
First is communication. I didn’t know these were available until a family member mentioned it. The pharmacy has signs for flu shots, why not covid?
Second, supply. I tried making an appointment a week ago, but they didn’t have any, so I had to wait until now.
Finally is insurance. My provider is fantastically opaque about whether they’d cover it. I didn’t know if I’d have to pay for the shot until I saw $0 on the receipt.
To say this has been fumbled would be an understatement. I’m not convinced that any agencies or companies are even trying to get people vaxxed.
Regarding insurance, the CDC has a program to provide free vacinations to those who are not covered by insurance. All you need to do is go to a participating pharmacy. They will bill the CDC program if they cannot bill insurance.
To find a participating pharmacy, go to https://www.vaccines.gov/ and select the Bridge Access Program filter after making the search.
Fuck, wish I had known about this a month ago before I paid out the ass for my shot. Oh well.
Doing good work helping other people not get screwed like me lol.
This is super helpful. As somebody without insurance, I was hoping to not have to pay out of pocket for it. Had no idea about this program.
When I got to the pharmacy I was sent to by the .gov website, I at first couldn’t find my insurance card in my bag, and they weren’t going to give me the shot, even though the .gov site said it wasn’t needed.
And even though I had entered all the correct insurance information asked on the website form in order to book the appointment.
Eventually I found my old card and it had enough of the right information (prescription bin, specifically) that they were able to bill my insurance.
So, if you don’t have insurance, be sure that’s known when you book the appointment. If you do, bring your card.
I also had 4 appointments cancelled because they were out of vaccine. Even the tech who was only able to give me my flu shot was upset, because she and her extended family were planning on getting their Covid shots and couldn’t, so we bonded over our distress.
Once the government bowed out of it, the private sector just completely bungled it. My pharmacy said I was much easier and productive to buy from the govt. My kids doc said it’s been a nightmare dealing with these companies (the rsv one too).
Logistics aside, you are right about comms. People have no clue there is a new one. It doesn’t have a good name. At least “bivalent” distinguished between the OG vaccines and the new one.
What were they expecting when the government stopped paying for it? We already know the normal American healthcare system is garbage, this is the result of that.
It cost me $400 to get my gf and her son vaccinated, that’ll get reimbursed by insurance… eventually, probably. That’s going to be a barrier for a lot of people, just like always.
They did? I got mine at Walgreens, not even a mention of payment or insurance. I just walked in, got it, walked out.
Hi, I’m a pharmacist
They probably did an eligibility check and found your insurance using the info you provided on the consent form.
If you’re in the non insured group, they are partnered with the government to have it covered regardless
Impressive since that means that Walgreens just ate the cost of your shot.
…I doubt that
Tell them you don’t have insurance, also refuse to show them your ID. The vaccine is free to anyone who wants it in territory controlled by the US government. Last booster I got I stood my ground.
Insurance?
Doesn’t matter since the vaccine is free
So you don’t have insurance?
Again. Vaccine is free.
I need your insurance information.
No, you really don’t. The bill goes to the US government not the insurance company and you are clearly asking so your employer can get me into your system. I don’t have to say anything about my insurance and I won’t. So if you want to write down no on your form you can but I am not going to tell you one way or another.
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Lets block the vaccine by age group and use poor messaging and then be confused when nobody gets the shot. Also im waiting till mid November so im good for Thanksgiving through new years and i suspect others are as well.
use poor messaging
Speaking of, isn’t the U.S. now charging for them/requiring insurance? Add that to the mix and of course fewer will get it.
No. The CDC Bridge Access Program is set to run through December 2024. As long as you go to a participating pharmacy, the Covid vaccine is free regardless of insurance status.
You can search on vaccines.gov for participating pharmacies.
CVS tried to charge me last year because apparently my insurance is on Walgreen’s team, not CVS’s team because America is fucking stupid about healthcare.
Yea ive heard it should still be free but im not sure, i wont know till i get it in a couple weeks
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Yeah, pretty much any insurance will cover it in-network, but in my experience they’re not really trying to communicate that to people.
Flu shots, by comparison, are almost universally covered by insurance or in some cases even by employers directly, and my email gets blown up annually with reminders to get one.
Just make sure it’s at least 7 days before you actually need to go celebrate something. Apparently that’s how long it takes for the booster to be effective.
Yep! I plan to do it 2 weeks before Thanksgiving so ill be good for the holiday shopping craze
This is literally the first I’ve heard of a new vaccine recommendation. And I had a Dr appointment less than a month ago.
I got the new COVID shot a week and a half ago and now I’m sick. Coincidence?
Yes. Stupid head cold.
Why I oughta…wish you a speedy recovery!
And here in Finland no one can’t even buy the new shots, they are only for people over 65 or at-risk-groups.
In the US its similar. Right now im working with a young man with disabilities and even getting him the shot is tough, no ones publicly saying where its avaliabe and who its avaliabe to, and if I wasn’t digging as part of a job I wouldn’t know jack about them. It’s no surprise few have gotten these shots, few know about them, I’d wager most Americans don’t know they’re out.
I literally walked into a rite aid and got it in 20 mins.
Same for CVS.
Walgreens was a no-go.
Got mine in Walgreens, same day appointment. Both flu and Covid booster.
Based on these comments, it’s a bit of a clusterfuck out there.
Damn! I am immunocompromised due to congentheart failure. Finding a shot here has been phone calls after phone calls. I finally got on a waiting list for when the pharmacy has it restocked. So weird how much it varies by area!
Wild, lucky you. I pass two pharmacies on the way home, haven’t seen so much as a sign about the new vaccines, the flu shot marquee message is still up. This article is the first I’ve seen about these shots even being avliable from anywhere outside of me calling pharmacies at work.
I work in a US pharmacy… it’s definitely been available for everyone for weeks now. This one didn’t even go through a 65+ phase or anything. You should be able to call and major pharmacy or go to their website to make an appointment.
Every pharmacy near me has been sold out. I managed to get my booster because I was quick about it. A few days later, my husband could not.
I was told the end of October was when my client could get it by the pharmacist who takes point on working with his doctors to help with his prior authorizations to make sure the right stuff is in stock because his medicaid wont cover certain things (and sometimes they even stop covering something he took for years then we have to find a new drug and get a prior auth for that one). I have the appointment now, this is just the first time outside of work I’ve seen anything about these being out from infomercials to parking lot signs, hadn’t seen anything until this.
From what I heard Novavax is available at many Costco stores.
Walgreens and CVS have Pfizer and Moderna. I got the Moderna Spikevax at Walgreens in late September.
I walked into Walgreens and got my flu and COVID shots together. I’m 30. They have big signs saying they have the updated vaccines walk in ready.
Same here, plus pneumonia. I’d have gotten the RSV too but they were out. I’m 55.
They gave me the pneumonia shot at the same time too, even tho I’m not old enough, they said since I used to smoke, I should get it since it’s covered.
Cool and congratulations on the quitting! It’ll be nine years since my last in May. You’re way ahead. Keep it up.
Meanwhile Walgreens can’t even staff their pharmacies around me reliably because the pharmacists are sick of Walgreens cost cutting and vaccinations.
Where is the USA are you? The supply is plentiful near me.
Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Wegmans. Plenty of places in my area to get them that’s not even counting doctors offices.
That’s the official line in the UK - free covid jabs are only available to those who’d be eligible for the flu jab anyway. But when I went to have mine done the other day they did my partner’s flu + covid on the spot too, no fuss. The pharmacist said that turn out has been so low they’ve been told to give it to anyone who asks.
I don’t think there’s been a lot of interest. Nobody seems to be talking about it. I had no idea there was a new vaccine or that anyone was still given a covid vaccine
Can you get one from private side if you really want one?
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Vaccinations are one of the most cost effective public health interventions.
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In the US, the covid vaccine has a sticker price of about $120; which is already a meaningless and overinglated number, but puts an upper bound on the cost of the treatment.
Suppose you are a healthy young adult, working a job earning $15/hour. You do not get vaccinated and end up catching covid. Nothing major, you just call in sick for a day and sleep it off. 8 hours of lost labor at $15/hour gives a lower bound of $120 in economic damages. Of course, your work produces more value then your wage: there is profit, per-employee overhead, non-wage benefits, cost of unplanned disruptions.
Maybe you need 2 days to recover. Now the damages are large enough to have covered at least 2 vaccinations. Maybe you infected someone else, who proceeded to infect someone else. Maybe you value not getting sick at a rate above $0. And this is all just the cost associated with 1 sick day. Some young healthy adults will get even sicker, and there is no way to know ahead of time who they will be.
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For covid particularly?
I wonder how many people haven’t gotten it because of inconvenient side effects. Every shot I’ve gotten completely knocks me out for a day. Sweats, fever, aches, basically can’t do anything but lay in bed all day the next day. Better than getting it, but I can’t spare a whole day to be sick just for a vaccine. Can’t afford to take a sick day.
I understand what you are saying but if you can’t afford a sick day, you can’t afford to actually get sick with it.
It does for me too but i got COVID way back at the start, before there were vaccines or stuff, and it’s probably the sickest i’ve ever been. The only contenders were getting stomach flu in the middle of the Boundary Water Canoe Area or that time i got swine flu. The former i thought my insides were shutting down, it was misery. The latter my with made me come in even though i was sick and the rest of the workplace got it and a bunch of people ended up in the hospital. COVID was more recent so there’s some bias there but it was at least top 3.
I’m getting whatever vaccination i can until there’s clearly no more need.
I got J&J the first time around and it made me sleep the rest of the day, just absolutely walloped me. But every booster I’ve had since then was super easy - no side-effects whatsoever except mild injection site soreness which went away in a day. I got the latest booster on Tuesday and by the end of the day I’d forgotten I even got it until I undressed for bed and saw the bandaid.
Got it yesterday. Shoulder is sore as hell, but it’s not nearly as bad as actually having COVID. Still, yeah it’s a huge barrier.
I’ll take that over another round of Covid. Got it last winter and it knocked me out for 10 days
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My wife and I got the first two and it knocked us out for almost a week. Not getting it again.
Just get it and go to work sick. They must want that since they limited your sick time. Either that or do it as late as possible Sunday night
Til there’s another one. Not sarcastic but yeah I didn’t know it was available
I think it’s the fact it’s hard to find, at least in my state it was difficult, every place either was fully booked or had none. I had planned originally to go to my community center for a Vax day and then it was canceled because they had none
I got mine at Costco. Flu shot in one arm, covid in the other
CVS has been pretty reliably on top of both of the updated vaccine rollouts and has them in stock. I got it with the flu shot a month ago now and had no trouble finding it.
Yeah I think now it’s no problem but the roll out was terrible, I bet the numbers go up now that it’s widely available
My Safeway still doesn’t have it.
I have been trying! All the CVS near me don’t seem to have it and Walgreens canceled my appointment last week and I had to reschedule for weeks from now, im assuming also due to supply issues.
The Walgreens near me have been struggling to even keep regular hours for prescription pickups for over a year let alone doing vaccines.
Something, something free market.
Definitely not many options around here. CVS doesn’t exist, Rite Aid has one remaining location staffed about as well as Walgreens. There’s Walmart, but Walmart can suck it, which only leaves Costco but it’s about a 20+ minute drive across town. All the smaller or independent pharmacies have shut down over the last decade or so too.
Walgreens is the only business with an actual presence around town (probably half a dozen or more locations) but they seem terrible to work for as their employees are striking currently and it’s always been clear when interacting with the employees that they don’t want to be there.
Isn’t the biggest issue with distribution? I asked to get the shot last month along with my flu shot at my doctor’s and they weren’t given any.
A month ago when I looked there were none. Today every pharmacy in my area has them including grocery stores. Give it another check and see.
Same. I have a follow-up appointment in half a month and I’ll ask about it again, otherwise I’ll just find a pharmacy.
I sure as hell got it. I’m no fool.
Guess my wife and I are part of the 7%-ers. We got ours last Saturday. CVS has plenty of appointments. I was fine, arm a little sore the next day. My wife pretty much slept most of the weekend. She’s fine now too.
I was cross eyed for half a day the next day.
But a day after that, completely fine. If that knocks off a couple weeks of shitty covid symptoms, that’s a massive win to me.
It’s not really well broadcasted, I got it by pure chance when I asked about it while getting my flu vax. Also I’m sure plenty are fatigued from shots at this point and stopped caring.
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I’d get it but I haven’t heard anything about where to get it
Pharmacies and general practitioners, just like any other vaccine
Check which company is in bed with your insurance provider before making an apartmen appointment.
If you’re uninsured, I believe it’s free, but don’t take my word on it.
I have small children. I’ve had COVID three times (that I’m aware of; the last time I got it I just thought I had allergies and did a home test on a lark that was positive).
Having small children in daycare/early grade school, where if your kid has covid means parents have to take five days off of work to stay home with their kids to follow the isolation protocols means kids are always being sent in with covid and parents don’t report it, because then they have to follow an isolation protocol instead of their best judgment. Every time I’ve got covid, I caught it from my kids, who get it from other kids. I imagine I’m about as immunized as you can be at this point.
When our kids are positive, we keep them home and follow the isolation protocols, which is a privilege we have. But, I’ll be honest: seems pretty fucking pointless. And each time they’ve gotten it, we only know because we randomly test them when I hear other parents mentioning they had covid but the kids seemed fine so they sent them in. They’ve had symptoms once. They’ve had several colds that have been AWFUL, but none of those were covid.
Covid for my kids is a positive test. That’s usually the only symptom. I can understand why parents just send them in to school. Yet there are no formal policies requiring a pediatrician visit and a negative test for the flu, or for a bad cold. Just COVID.
It’s really, really absurd, and working parents that I know just treat covid like any other cold: if it’s bad enough that the kids are miserable, they stay home, otherwise, they go in. It’s not the case if you have an immunodeficiency or are very old, but that’s true of every illness for those groups. As far as I can tell, parents have moved past covid. It’s just another illness that kids get.
Young children get sick as often as 12-18 times a year. Acting like covid, which has been in the population for some time now, is still some big bogeyman does an injustice to the actual illnesses that cause disruption. Frankly, it’s a virus that has now become a political bellwether, which is incredibly, incredibly stupid.
Idk about everyone else, but this is getting ridiculous now for our family. We’re doing our best to continue to follow guidance, but even the pediatrics department basically rolls their eyes about covid, because overworked parents have to come in and get a permission slip to send their kids back to school.
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