Share of vaccinated adults who received booster doubled in November: KFF poll

The percentage of adults vaccinated against COVID-19 who have gotten their booster more than doubled in November in a “significant uptake”, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found, as the U.S. expanded eligibility to the extra dose.

The KFF Vaccine Monitor for November released Thursday found 23 percent of vaccinated adults said they have had their booster shot, compared to 10 percent who said the same in October. 

This includes 33 percent of adults aged 50 and older who became eligible for booster doses earlier. Thirty-two percent of Democrats said they’ve received a booster, while almost a third of vaccinated Republicans said they definitely or probably won’t get their booster.

While a majority of the vaccinated adults — 56 percent — said they are likely to get their booster once eligible, 18 percent said they will probably or definitely not get a booster dose. 

Meanwhile, the poll found no “significant” progress in the percentage of vaccinated adults since September, with 73 percent saying they have gotten the first shot.

This comes as experts have repeatedly said the U.S. cannot “boost” its way out of the pandemic and instead needs more unvaccinated people to get their initial round of shots. 

Majorities of all demographics have gotten at least one dose, although about a quarter of Republicans, evangelical Christians and people without health insurance remain unvaccinated. Fewer than two-thirds of people who are or are planning to become pregnant have gotten a shot. 

The KFF vaccine monitor surveyed 1,820 adults Nov. 8-22, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Boosters officially became available to all adults at the tail end of the survey period on Nov. 19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first opened up booster shots to all Johnson & Johnson recipients and certain Moderna recipients in late October. 

But the emergence of the omicron variant was first reported last week, prompting the CDC to recommend boosters for all adults on Monday. The agency confirmed the U.S.’s first case of the omicron strain on Wednesday.