Rate of Americans getting booster shots is slowing down

The Biden administration has largely responded to the near vertical rise in coronavirus cases by pushing for more people to get not only their initial doses of vaccine, but booster shots as well.

This week, federal health officials endorsed boosters for youths 12 to 17 who had initially gotten the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government also changed the definition of “up to date” Covid vaccination to include boosters.

But even as the United States has moved rapidly to expand who is eligible for boosters, progress in persuading Covid-fatigued Americans to get them has stalled.

About 62 percent of Americans — about 206 million people — are fully vaccinated, according to federal data. But according to a C.D.C. database, only about 35 percent of Americans have received a booster since mid-August, when additional shots were first authorized, even as eligibility has greatly expanded.

On Nov. 19, the F.D.A. authorized boosters for everyone 18 and older who had received two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, and on Dec. 9, it authorized boosters of the Pfizer vaccine for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Those changes led to more Americans getting boosters, according to the federal database, but that has since leveled off.

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After the discovery of the Omicron variant in late November, the pace of all vaccinations sped up, but it peaked in early December, and then it plateaued. (Reporting lags around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays have affected the daily numbers throughout this period.)

Omicron, which is highly transmissible, has shown that it is better at evading vaccines than other variants. But scientists say booster shots can offer substantial protection, especially against severe disease. ...