WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will receive the updated Covid-19 shot on Tuesday after delivering remarks on the pandemic and the administration’s efforts to get Americans boosted, according to a White House official.
It’s been more than three months since the president contracted the virus, the amount of time health experts recommend waiting before getting another shot.
The president will underscore that while progress has been made on getting people up to date on their vaccines, more needs to be done, the official said.
Since the bivalent boosters have been available, only about 20 million people have received their shots, according to data maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new formula targets both the original Covid strain as well as currently circulating omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Biden administration officials were encouraged by an uptick last week, when more than 4.5 million Americans received the latest shot, the largest weekly increase since the fall program’s launch.
The White House is focused on reaching those at the highest risk of infection, including senior citizens. Half of shots so far have gone to those over 65 years of age, according to the data from the CDC.
Top Biden administration officials have warned in recent weeks about a possible winter surge, particularly as more people head indoors.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha has stressed timing is also a key factor, pushing people to ideally get their boosters before Halloween to have the best protection possible by the holidays.
