State and federal health officials are frustrated that thousands of seniors have landed in the hospital with Covid-19 since the holidays — despite the widespread availability of a vaccine designed to prevent exactly that.
Less than 40 percent of people over 65 have taken the updated booster shot that became available in the fall, according to the CDC, leaving millions with little protection against the latest strain sweeping the U.S.
The paltry uptake among seniors, who remain most at risk of dying from the virus, underscores the Biden administration’s challenge of beating back a third winter wave when so many Americans are either unaware or uninterested in another shot.