As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations creep up during a summer wave of heightened virus activity, updated vaccines are still likely weeks away.
Why it matters:
- Americans have largely tuned out COVID, but the latest COVID uptick is a reminder that the virus continues to circulate and mutate — though the threat is far below pandemic-era levels.
- Health officials face a challenge convincing a pandemic-fatigued public to get an updated COVID shot, as vaccine uptake has declined with each successive booster.
I got the first few covid vaccines because you know, whatever. But I never got a flu shot, and will not really be taking covid shots now, unless we get in another pickle like we did before.
It’s endemic, covid is here to stay. Being vaccinated doesn’t make you totally sterile to the virus, you can still carry it and infect others.
That’s also the way it’s handled by my country (and has been for as long as I have been alive, for the flu) - Switzerland. People at risk get vaccinated, the general public usually doesn’t