New COVID booster rates lag in WA, despite urgent public health messages

Washington’s rates for the newly designed COVID-19 booster are lagging, in line with similarly slow demand for the updated shots nationwide despite urgent public health messaging.

The bivalent booster — which protects against severe illness from both the original virus strain, as well as omicron and its contagious subvariants — was authorized near the end of August and reached pharmacies and health care providers by early September. As of early October, though, rates were much lower than public health officials would like.

Everyone ages 12 and older who have completed their primary COVID vaccine series (the first two doses of Moderna, Pfizer or Novavax, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) is eligible for the updated booster. It’s safe to mix and match vaccine brands, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

The Washington State Department of Health has yet to make statewide rates for updated boosters public, but in King County, only about 11.3% of eligible residents have gotten a new booster as of this week, compared with about 55.5% who received the original booster.

“Overall, King County residents have led the country with some of the highest rates of COVID-19 primary series vaccination rates nationwide,” Public Health – Seattle & King County spokesperson Kate Cole wrote in an email. “But, right now, we have major gaps in updated (bivalent) booster coverage, even among older adults.”

About 40% of U.S. adults, or about 105 million, have received their first booster shot initially offered a year ago, according to federal data. Early reports show that just over 11 million Americans, or about 4% of those eligible, have received the new bivalent boosters. A third of adults say they eventually plan to get those shots, The Washington Post reported.

According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report, nearly half of American adults had heard little or nothing about the new boosters, The New York Times reported. So far, those 65 and older have reported the highest booster rates and understanding of the new shots, though confusion over eligibility was rather widespread, according to newspaper.

“The single most important step we can take to protect ourselves and our community is to get vaccinated,” King County health officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said in a news briefing last month. “And if you are not boosted and you’re eligible, get an updated booster.”

In Seattle, it’s unclear if lower rates are primarily due to unawareness of the new boosters, decreased concern around COVID or difficulty finding appointments, but all of those factors likely play a role.

Kim Jones, 54, of West Seattle, has been eager to get her bivalent booster sooner rather than later so she’ll be protected in time for a mid-November charity bowling event she and her husband organize. She started by clicking onto the state’s online vaccine locator tool, but quickly ran into a few obstacles.

“They have good lists of places that might have the vaccine, but when you click through, it’s apparent that they aren’t linked to actual availability,” Jones wrote in a message to The Seattle Times. “The part that is frustrating is that…