Most Americans Won’t Get COVID-19 Booster This Fall, Survey Says

A survey from health care organization KFF found that 59 percent said they either will not or likely will not receive the booster.

A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 25, 2021. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

A majority of Americans said they will likely not receive a COVID-19 booster vaccine this fall, according to a poll released Friday.

A survey from the health care organization KFF found that 59 percent of respondents said they either will not or likely will not receive the booster dose. Around 37 percent said they would “definitely not” receive the shot, while 23 percent said they would “probably not get” the shot.

According to the poll, 21 percent said they will “definitely” receive the booster, and 19 percent said they will “probably get” one.

The survey, meanwhile, indicated that 36 percent of Americans over the age of 65 said they “definitely” will get the updated COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Around the same number of Democrats overall also said they would do so, according to the pollsters.

This comes as the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed the COVID-19 vaccine policy since the Trump administration took over earlier this year. Last month, the HHS dismissed all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel, ordered the removal of mercury from influenza vaccines, and ended the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children.

The KFF survey found that most Americans say they are confused about the changes to U.S. vaccine policy that have been made in the last six months or so.

It also found that 33 percent of all adults surveyed are “very” or “somewhat” worried about whether COVID-19 vaccines will be available to them this fall. But most adults, or 67 percent, told KFF they are “not too” or “not at all” worried about that prospect, it found.

On Thursday, the CDC released data showing that vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria, and polio, decreased among U.S. kindergartners in the 2024–2025 school year from the previous year.

For the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, coverage went from 95.2 percent in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7 percent last year, before landing at 92.5 percent in 2024–2025. In Texas, the epicenter of the recent outbreak, MMR coverage has fallen to 93.2 percent from 96.9 percent in 2019.

The figures brought forth by the CDC did not include data for COVID-19 vaccines, but only included vaccines that are typically given during childhood.

In addition, exemptions from one or more vaccines increased to 3.6 percent in 2024–2025 from 3.3 percent the year before, the CDC website said. Exemptions, which can be granted on medical or religious grounds, increased in 36 states and the District of Columbia, with 17 states reporting exemptions exceeding 5 percent, it said.

And in a recent report, the CDC said that activity for COVID-19 was low nationwide. Respiratory illness activity, including RSV and influenza, was also described as “very low“ by the agency. ”Very high“ levels of the virus were being reported in Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska, while ”high” levels are occurring in California, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and Kentucky, according to a map provided by the agency for the week ending July 26.

Reuters contributed to this report.