Close-up shot of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot being administered in Freeport, New York on November 30, 2021. (Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - The Biden administration hopes to make getting a COVID-19 booster as routine as going in for the yearly flu shot.That’s at the heart of its campaign to sell the newly authorized shot to an American public that has widely rejected COVID-19 boosters since they first became available last fall.Shots of the updated boosters, specifically designed by Pfizer and Moderna to respond to the omicron strain, could start within days.
The U.S. government has purchased 170 million doses and is emphasizing that everyone will have free access to the booster.White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr.
Ashish Jha said this latest round of shots will offer protection during the busy cold and flu season, with the hope of transitioning people to get the vaccine yearly.
Typically, at least half of U.S. adults get a flu shot.RELATED: White House updates response plan for infectious COVID variants; pushes boosters"We expect them to provide more durable protection over time," Jha said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "The goal very much is to get to a point where people get their COVID shot on a regular basis, the way they do their flu shot."Community health workers in North Carolina, home to the country’s lowest COVID-19 booster rate, like the strategy, especially because of confusion among some people about vaccine schedules."I believe in keeping things simple," said Marty Stamey, an outreach coordinator for the Mountain Area Health Education Center in western North Carolina.