COVID-19 Booster Dose Vaccination Coverage and Factors Associated with Booster Vaccination among Adults, United States, March 2022

Abstract

A COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is intended to boost the immune system for better, long-lasting protection when the primary vaccine response decreases over time. Studies have shown that a booster increased the immune response in trial participants who completed a Pfizer-BioNTech (https://www.pfizer.com) or Moderna (https://www.modernatx.com) primary series 6 months earlier or who received a Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (https://www.jnj.com) singledose vaccine 2 months earlier (1,2).With an increased immune response, booster doses provide additional protection against both Delta and Omicron variants for clinical COVID-19 emergency department visits and hospitalization even for those persons who have received an initial vaccine series (1,3). For example, the mRNA vaccine effectiveness (VE) against emergency room visits during the period of Delta predominance was 76%-86% after the second initial dose and 94% after a booster dose; estimates of VE during Omicron variant predominance were 38%-52% after the second initial dose and 82% after a booster dose. VE against hospitalizations during the period of Delta predominance was 81%-90% after the second initial dose and 94% after a booster dose, and estimates of VE for during Omicron variant predominance were 57%-81% after the second initial dose and 90% after a booster dose (3).The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) first recommended booster doses for select populations in September 2021 and on November 29, 2021, recommended that all persons >18 years of age should get a booster dose when eligible (1,2). By March 2022, approximately 84% of American adults were fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 primary vaccine series; primary vaccine series completion rates varied by some social-demographic characteristics (4). Receiving a COVID-19 booster dose is useful both to prevent COVID-19-related illness and death and slow the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. The objective of this study was to assess COVID-19 booster dose vaccination coverage by demographics and behaviors and experiences

Quantifying the impact of SARS-CoV-2 temporal vaccination trends and disparities on disease control

“…Notably, we found that the timing and shape of rollout, the two most important factors deciding the burden of mortality, are not associated with SES. Given that previous studies have mainly focused on overall coverage and vaccine hesitancy, rather than early uptake [e.g., (33)(34)(35)], these findings suggest that timing deserves further consideration when studying social and demographic heterogeneity. While it is intuitive that a faster vaccine rollout leads to a lower burden of disease, our results suggest that modifying the distribution and timing of early vaccine rollout for all groups can effectively counterbalance the negative effects of vaccine inequity.…”

TRACE-Omicron: Policy Counterfactuals to Inform Mitigation of COVID-19 Spread in the United States

“…However, in combination with or in place of vaccines, there are several combinations of alternate strategy suites which yield lower outbreak sizes. This is fortunate in the wake of recent concerns over rapidly evolving variants (Groenheit et al, 2023) outpacing vaccine advancements as well as vaccine uptake (Lu et al, 2022).…”

TRACE‐Omicron: Policy Counterfactuals to Inform Mitigation of COVID‐19 Spread in the United States

“…This is fortunate in the wake of recent concerns over rapidly evolving variants [76] outpacing vaccine advancements as well as vaccine uptake. [77] That is not to say however, that vaccination is not critical for controlling this disease, as studies show that vaccinations significantly reduce serious complications and deaths. [78] Current discussions in this work were focused on the number of cases during the Omicron wave, both in total and at its peak.…”

“…This is fortunate in the wake of recent concerns over rapidly evolving variants [ 76 ] outpacing vaccine advancements as well as vaccine uptake. [ 77 ]…”