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U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged Americans to seek out updated COVID booster shots, as he received his own dose at a White House event, CBS News reported.

Mr. Biden, who was joined by top federal health officials and the leaders of some of nation's largest pharmacy chains, also touted an array of new efforts announced by the companies to accelerate shots and curb the virus.

"We're here with a simple message: get vaccinated. Update your COVID vaccine. It's incredibly effective, but the truth is not enough people are getting it. We've got to change that so we can all have a safe and healthy holiday season," the president said.

His remarks come as federal figures have tracked the pace of new shots beginning to stall nationwide, after weeks of accelerating.

CDC figures last week estimated that more than 19 million Americans have gotten an updated COVID booster shot so far. That works out to around 9% of the up to 226 million Americans who are eligible for the boosters.

The updated boosters targeting two subvariants of Omicron, which are the most dominant strains in the U.S., began rolling out in the fall. The Biden administration launched a new ad campaign this month to promote the shots.

Early data testing the updated boosters against the BA.5 variant, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, suggest they produce at least similar antibody responses to the original formulation of the shots.

Every vaccinated American who is at least 5 years old is eligible to receive an updated booster shot this fall, as long as their last shot of COVID vaccine was at least two months ago.