Despite new COVID variants still arising, most Americans aren't jumping to get new protections against them.
A poll published Wednesday by KFF found a little less than half of adults in the U.S. plan to get the recently updated COVID-19 shot, with 23% saying they will "definitely" get it and 23% saying they "probably" will. That's up against the 19% who said they probably won't get it and the 33% who said they definitely will not.
This latest installment of KFF's COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor Poll comes just over two weeks after the CDC approved and recommended updated vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech for those six months or older. These vaccines are intended to target more recent variants of the virus, as hospitalizations and deaths have been on the rise.
Who should get the newly approved COVID shot?
Doctors now have to take several factors into consideration, including age, immunity status and previous vaccinations.
But the latest poll highlights many Americans' apathy toward actionable items they and their children can take against the pandemic, with fewer than 4 in 10 parents saying they would get the vaccine for their kids. And more than half of parents in age groups 17 and under say they definitely or probably won't get the update.
What hasn't changed is the age and partisan tilt of who said they would get the vaccine: Those most likely to say they would get the vaccine were at least 65 years old, at 64%, and Democrats, at 70% compared to 24% Republicans.
"The poll shows that most of the nation still trusts the CDC and the FDA on vaccines, but there is a partisan gap, and most Republicans don't trust the nation's regulatory and scientific agencies responsible for vaccine approval and guidance," said Drew Altman, KFF president and CEO.
However, the amount of Americans who said they would get this vaccine is higher than those who said they would get previous booster shots, the poll found, but still, the numbers aren't as high as initial vaccine uptake in 2020.
