As Covid deaths climb, even the elderly are skipping the latest reminder

Almost all Americans over the age of 65 have received their first Covid vaccines. But that immunity is waning, and this time the government is offering much less support for new vaccines.
PLEASANT HILL, Calif. — Bonnie Ronk is something of a public health matriarch at the Mt. Diablo Center for seniors in this liberal northern California suburb.
When Mrs. Ronk, a great-grandmother whose red walker wears a sticker saying "El Jefe" (The Leader), tells her peers to pull their masks over their noses, they oblige. When she received the two doses of the Covid vaccine and a booster and told others to do the same, they did.
But even Ms. Ronk, 79, didn't get the latest Covid booster, which was updated to protect against the variant Omicron and has been available since September She said she didn't know.
In the United States, where approximately 94% of people age 65 s and more received their first Covid shots, only 36% received the updated vaccine, known as a bivalent booster, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older people offered a range of explanations: they were unaware, unable to find it, or unconvinced of its value.
As the pandemic begins its third winter and with Covid hospitalizations and deaths climbing again, medical experts fear there is no effective plan to update vaccinations for the most vulnerable Americans. Two years ago, when Covid vaccines were first introduced, the federal government sent teams to thousands of nursing homes and community centers to vaccinate the elderly, halting the devastation of the virus. /p>
But so far this fall, the White House has only offered grants to community organizations to get shots in the arms of the elderly, without the clear messaging strategy or the logistical support they need most, many caregivers and nursing home executives said in interviews. /p>
"Government and philanthropic support seems non-existent," said Debbie Toth, chief executive of nonprofit Choice in Aging, which has helped bring thousands of initial vaccines to adult care facilities and housing complexes in California's East Bay in early 2021.
The waning immunity of senior citizens has largely transformed the Covid pandemic in the United States from a threat against the unvaccinated to one against the old, many of whom were once well protected. People over 70 are being admitted to hospital with Covid at a rate four times that of the general population.
ImageAccording to the C.D.C., 95% of people 65 and older received their first Covid vaccines, but only a third received the updated booster.Credit...Jamie Kelter Davis for the New York Times
The latest available death counts by age showed nearly 90% of Covid deaths were in people over 65.
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Health Dec 21, 2022 0 39 Add to Reading List

As Covid deaths climb, even the elderly are skipping the latest reminder

Almost all Americans over the age of 65 have received their first Covid vaccines. But that immunity is waning, and this time the government is offering much less support for new vaccines.

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. — Bonnie Ronk is something of a public health matriarch at the Mt. Diablo Center for seniors in this liberal northern California suburb.

When Mrs. Ronk, a great-grandmother whose red walker wears a sticker saying "El Jefe" (The Leader), tells her peers to pull their masks over their noses, they oblige. When she received the two doses of the Covid vaccine and a booster and told others to do the same, they did.

But even Ms. Ronk, 79, didn't get the latest Covid booster, which was updated to protect against the variant Omicron and has been available since September She said she didn't know.

In the United States, where approximately 94% of people age 65 s and more received their first Covid shots, only 36% received the updated vaccine, known as a bivalent booster, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older people offered a range of explanations: they were unaware, unable to find it, or unconvinced of its value.

As the pandemic begins its third winter and with Covid hospitalizations and deaths climbing again, medical experts fear there is no effective plan to update vaccinations for the most vulnerable Americans. Two years ago, when Covid vaccines were first introduced, the federal government sent teams to thousands of nursing homes and community centers to vaccinate the elderly, halting the devastation of the virus. /p>

But so far this fall, the White House has only offered grants to community organizations to get shots in the arms of the elderly, without the clear messaging strategy or the logistical support they need most, many caregivers and nursing home executives said in interviews. /p>

"Government and philanthropic support seems non-existent," said Debbie Toth, chief executive of nonprofit Choice in Aging, which has helped bring thousands of initial vaccines to adult care facilities and housing complexes in California's East Bay in early 2021.

The waning immunity of senior citizens has largely transformed the Covid pandemic in the United States from a threat against the unvaccinated to one against the old, many of whom were once well protected. People over 70 are being admitted to hospital with Covid at a rate four times that of the general population.

ImageAccording to the C.D.C., 95% of people 65 and older received their first Covid vaccines, but only a third received the updated booster.Credit...Jamie Kelter Davis for the New York Times

The latest available death counts by age showed nearly 90% of Covid deaths were in people over 65.

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