I got my COVID booster shot today. One of the very few people in the US to do so. Despite the CDC recommending that everyone gets one, I read somewhere that only about 7% of Americans have gotten one so far. And I suspect most Americans won't bother with getting the booster at all. This doesn't surprise me. For a start, it's a pain in the ass to get one - there are no mass vaccination sites any more, instead you typically have to go to a pharmacy. And availability is extremely limited. It's supposed to be free, but apparently a lot of places have been refusing medical insurance and making people pay out of pocket. At least that's what happened to one of my colleagues. Which is why I'm glad I went to a small family-owned pharmacy nearby, where I didn't have any issues and didn't pay anything. An interesting pharmacy - I'd never been there before, and it doubles as a gift shop and had loads of potential Christmas gift ideas. I will probably return. But if they want to administer COVID shots in the same way that they administer flu shots, then a lot needs to change. For example, I was able to get a flu shot at work - but I don't know why they didn't offer a COVID shot at the same time. And there's also been very little advertising or promotion for getting the booster - which seems like something the US government has dropped the ball on. I bet that will change when COVID hospitalizations and deaths start ticking up again.
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