At least 400,000 people in the United States have received booster shots against COVID-19 since the additional injections were authorized last week, the Biden administration reported Tuesday.
“Our planning and preparation on the reinforcements have been off to a strong start,” Jeff Zients, a White House coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters during a live-streamed press conference.
He added that most of the 400,000 injections were given over the weekend and nearly 1 million people have scheduled appointments to receive their third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The administration’s alliances with states, long-term care facilities, doctors and pharmacies allowed it to implement boosters “immediately,” following the federal government’s approval of the vaccines last week, Zients said.
“We are off to a very strong start to the boost campaign,” said Zients. “We will continue to work with our partners to deliver so that we can efficiently and equitably provide additional protection from booster doses to eligible Americans.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave the green light Thursday to Pfizer’s antigen boosters for people 65 and older, who live in long-term care facilities, and other adults with certain underlying health conditions. Officials also paved the way for adult workers facing a high risk of contracting the virus to receive reinforcements. Eligible Americans can get the third dose at least six months after getting the second shot.
Most inoculated Americans have injected themselves with Pfizer’s antigen, according to the CDC. Regulators are expected to eventually approve some type of booster dose for those who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Despite the recent focus on booster doses, Zients said raising overall inoculation rates remains the government’s “top priority.”
About 77% of eligible adult Americans have received at least one injection, according to federal statistics, and about 65% are considered fully inoculated. About 23% have not had a vaccine, President Biden reported Monday, just before he received his booster dose on national television.
Earlier this month, a panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected a plan that would have made booster vaccines available to most Americans, because it’s unclear how. It would substantially slow the spread of the deadly virus, they said.
Experts have urged the White House to focus on increasing inoculation worldwide to limit the chances of new and potentially more deadly variants emerging.
Zients explained that the Biden administration is “focused on getting more Americans vaccinated,” but is also determined to increase manufacturing and shipping capacity to help other countries obtain doses of the antigen.
In the past 10 days, the United States has shipped “millions” of doses to Mexico, Vietnam, Honduras, South Africa and the Philippines, Zients reported. Biden has pledged to ship more than 1 billion doses to other countries by next fall, a fraction of what experts say is needed to safeguard the world.
“This virus knows no borders,” Zients noted, “and eradicating the virus everywhere protects our health and economy here at home.”
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