<\/strong>Updated booster doses could also prevent more than 936,000 hospitalizations and save $56 billion in six months<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n <\/b><\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n THURSDAY, Oct. 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The number Americans who will die of COVID-19 this winter could depend on how many get their booster shots, a new report shows.<\/p>\n Up to 90,000 U.S. COVID-19 deaths could be prevented through the fall and winter, but that is less likely if vaccine uptake continues at the current slow pace, a Commonwealth Fund study released Wednesday predicted. Death rates could peak at more than 1,000 per day during the winter if nothing changes.<\/p>\n About 7.6 million Americans have received an updated booster dose so far, according to the latest data<\/a> from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n The authors of the report determined that if COVID-19 booster vaccinations happened at a rate similar to flu vaccinations in 2020-2021, there would be 75,000 fewer deaths, 745,000 fewer hospitalizations, and $44 billion less spent in medical costs from Oct. 1 to the end of March 2023 compared with a scenario in which daily vaccination rates were unchanged.<\/p>\n In another scenario, analysts determined that if 80 percent of people received their updated booster doses, it would prevent not only 90,000 deaths but more than 936,000 hospitalizations and save $56 billion in six months.<\/p>\n At the current pace of booster shot uptake, if there is a winter virus surge, that could bring a peak of 16,000 hospitalizations and 1,200 deaths per day by March.<\/p>\n