A lagging COVID booster campaign, reparations in Kansas City, and more

Greetings! I’m Christine Mehta . Welcome to Harvard Public Health Weekly—a newsletter bringing you the best ideas and commentary on public health.

Today, we’re talking booster fatigue and sharing new content from our recently published Fall Issue on structural #racism.

If you like what you’re reading, please share!

Why are Americans ignoring the new COVID booster?

Fall has officially arrived in the Northeast, and along with it, the annual rituals of apple-picking, fall foliage peeking, and of course, flu shots. This year, the flu shot has made a friend: the new #COVID-19 bivalent booster. And the #publichealth campaign is in full swing. Even Stephen Colbert got in on the game.

Less than half of Americans typically get an annual flu shot, and a recent survey finds that pattern holding this year. Meanwhile, just 5% of eligible U.S. adults have received the latest COVID-19 booster. A recent survey shows that a third to half of adults plan to get the newest booster at some point this fall.

Public health officials are deeply concerned. In an op-ed for HPH this week, Dr. KJ Seung , an advisor to a health department in central Massachusetts, argues local health departments need to focus on proactively reaching out to the high-risk and elderly and take the shots directly to their homes, churches, and community centers.

Read the essay.

In some ways, it looks like #covid booster rates are starting to mirror annual flu vaccination rates. While it’s unclear how often we’ll need to immunize ourselves against COVID going forward, it is likely we will need regular shots.

Yet it’s been tough for public health officials to replicate the success of the initial COVID vaccination campaign. Almost 80% of all U.S. adults, including nearly everyone 65 and older (93%), have received their primary series of COVID shots. But that number has dropped precipitously for boosters. Less than half of adults received a second booster.

The Atlantic’s Katherine J. Wu wrote in detail about the growing similarities between Americans’ attitudes towards COVID boosters and the flu shot. Read her essay.

Got ideas on how to step up vaccination? Email me your proposals and we might include them in a future story.

Elsewhere in Harvard Public Health…

This summer, comics journalist Josh Neufeld travelled to Kansas City, Missouri, to report on a new conversation: reparations for slavery. In a striking graphic story, Neufeld shows us how and why Kansas City’s neighborhoods vary wildly on life expectancy, and what elected officials are doing about it.

Also in the issue, the writer Rod McCullom breaks down the science behind racism’s effects on health, and Melba Newsome delves into actions already being taken to address health inequities, including in New York City. But Linda Nordling’s feature on South Africa’s medical schools reminds us of the persistent nature of racism.

On my reading list…

Monkeypox cases appear to be declining. This feature from Nature examines how the outbreak might play out in the coming months.

The CDC has been badly battered by the pandemic. But this NBC News analysis shows some staffers are still hopeful about the agency’s future.

And interest in male birth control options is on the rise. Also see our reporting on expanding pharmacy access to birth control in HPH. Turns out you can get birth control pills without a doctor’s prescription in more states than ever.

That’s all for this week…

We’ll be launching an email version of our newsletter in the not-so-distant future. Sign up on?our website.

Until next week,?

Christine

P.S. If you want to learn more about us, be sure to visit us online at?www.harvardpublichealth.org.