The Biden Administration is announcing its plan to get Americans their updated COVID-19 vaccine shot this fall, to ensure that the nation continues to effectively manage COVID-19 and minimize its disruptions, and to stay prepared for whatever may come.
This plan builds on the Administration’s work over the past 19 months to make COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, tests, masks, and other critical tools widely available to the American people. As the first nation in the world with updated vaccines that target the strain of Omicron that is dominant in the U.S. and around the world, we have a new, powerful tool to prevent serious illness and death, keep businesses and schools open, and get back to our more normal routines.
This summer, we showed that we know how to manage fluctuations in COVID-19 and move forward safely. In fact, even as the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron drove a rise in infections, the U.S. experienced far lower rates of hospitalization and death than in previous surges. Daily COVID-19 deaths are down nearly 90 percent since the President took office, and when properly used, the tools we now have can prevent nearly all COVID-19 deaths.
As we head into the fall, we know that there is a potential for an increase in infections, in part due to increased waning of immunity from vaccines and prior infection. Additionally, as the weather gets colder and people spend more time indoors, contagious viruses like COVID-19 can spread more easily. And, as we saw last fall with the emergence of Omicron, we must continue to stay prepared for the possibility of a potential new variant of concern.
The Administration’s plan to manage COVID-19 this fall focuses on making sure that Americans continue to have easy and equitable access to lifesaving tools, particularly the updated COVID-19 vaccines, and encouraging Americans to use them. Its success relies on all Americans—state and local leaders, healthcare providers, employers, educators, community- and faith-based organizations, and individuals—doing their part and taking commonsense actions to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.
