Flash News:
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2021-11-23 03:05:05
By Ravi Kumar
As many as 3 million Americans received a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot in the past three days, the White House said Monday.
Booster shots were authorized for all adults Friday, and between then and Sunday, 1 million people received an additional dose on each day, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said during a Monday press briefing. At least 36 million Americans have received a booster since the shots were first authorized in September.
Zients’ comments come days after Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, signed off on both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna booster shots for all adults in the United States.
More than 135 million Americans are now eligible for a booster shot, officials said Monday. Individuals are eligible for a booster six months after finishing their initial vaccination series with either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine, or two months after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Only one-third of seniors who are fully vaccinated in Florida have received a COVID-19 booster shot — worrying health experts who say that millions are leaving themselves exposed as the holidays approach.
While the COVID-19 transmission rate in Florida is the lowest it has been since June, the stakes are high heading into the holidays: People over 65 make up 75% of the COVID-19 deaths in Florida.
“If you are 65 or older and you are not boosted, you are putting your life at unnecessary risk,” said Howard Forman, a professor who directs the Health Care Management program in the Yale School of Public Health and tracks COVID-19’s global spread.
Compared to other age groups, Florida’s seniors have a high vaccination rate of 88% for the first two doses. But only 34% of them in Florida who are fully vaccinated have received a booster shot. More than 2.9 million seniors in the state who are fully vaccinated have yet to get a booster dose.
Florida has fallen below 37 other states in its percentage of seniors who are boosted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 vaccination tracker.
When the pandemic first arrived in Florida, the elderly in long-term care facilities were most affected. A majority have since been vaccinated.
As the holidays approach, getting seniors their booster shots become more critical, Biden administration officials have said they hope boosting the U.S. population will ensure long-term and durable protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death as the fast-moving delta variant continues to spread and more Americans head indoors in the colder weather.
On Monday, Walensky urged more Americans to receive the additional dose, noting that cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise over the past few weeks.
The seven-day average is at about 92,800 Covid cases per day, up 18 percent, she said. The seven-day average of hospital admissions is up 6 percent at about 5,600 per day.
“With plans for increased holiday season travel and gathering, boosting people’s overall protection against Covid-19 disease and death was important to do now, in making these recommendations,” she said. “Don’t delay, get your booster shot,” Zients said. “You can have enhanced protection from Covid as we head into the winter.”
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