If everyone in the United States who says they definitely intend to get vaccinated is shot, it won’t be enough to end the pandemic. This is because a large number of Americans are either unsure about the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine or say they will never receive it, according to new data from the US Census Bureau.
The survey of responses from approximately 68,000 adults conducted on January 6-18 provides the most comprehensive picture to date of which Americans are reluctant to get vaccinated and why.
About 51% of unvaccinated adults said they would definitely get the vaccine, 26% said they would probably get it, 14% said they probably wouldn’t, and 10% said they certainly wouldn’t.
Studies show that in order to stop the spread of Covid-19 and its mutations, between 70% and 80% of the population must develop immunity, raising the stakes for health officials to lure ambivalent Americans to get vaccines.
Currently, about 8% of the US population has had at least one dose of vaccine, according to CDC and census data.
Previous investigations into the skepticism of the Covid-19 vaccine have shown that people have become less hesitant as they see others vaccinated. The census will continue to assess future hesitation, with data published every two weeks.
The Biden administration has said it intends to launch a targeted vaccination campaign that focuses on the people whose data show the most hesitation, including rural populations and communities of color.
The plan is to build trust in the vaccine in collaboration with doctors and nurses, faith-based groups and advocacy organizations working in those communities.
“Right now, we have a limited supply of vaccine and a high demand, but at some point in the future we will have more supply than demand,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, who represents immunization officials. Of the state. “We need to work hard to establish trust in the vaccine and access to the vaccine in all communities to ensure that we reach vaccination levels to produce the immunity of the herd.”
Opponents of vaccination needs found a common ground during the pandemic, with people suspected of drug companies, business closures and other government restrictions. Of the unvaccinated adults in the census who said they were unsure of vaccination, 9% said they did not like the vaccines. Vaccine protesters interrupted a vaccination site at Dodger Stadium last week.
In the absence of a broad national appeal, many Americans form their own opinions about Covid-19 vaccines and do not intend to be vaccinated. “You can’t just say, ‘Here it is, and if you don’t want to, you don’t want to,'” said Parinda Khatri, clinical director at Cherokee Health Systems, who has been working on vaccination-hesitation in a health system that spans 14 counties in Tennessee from Appalachia to Memphis. “In terms of infection prevention and control, if you ignore 50% of people because you say, ‘Well, we offered,’ we’re all still in danger.”
Across the race, age groups, and regions of the country, concern about side effects was the most frequently cited issue among survey respondents hesitant about the vaccine.
Christopher Thomas, a Minnesota cardiologist, said he told patients he had a fever for two days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine and that it was easy to manage with a few acetaminophen. He tells them to compare this possible discomfort with the more serious complications and blood clotting he saw in patients with Covid-19.
Lack of confidence in the government and the vaccines themselves have also been raised among those who intend to avoid shootings, repeating previous surveys that indicated widespread distrust in institutions. The proportion of respondents who said they did not trust the government was highest among young people aged between 18 and 25. The cohort was almost twice as likely to cite these concerns as Americans over the age of 65. They were also more likely to say that they thought others needed the vaccine more than they did.
About one-fifth of Hispanic and white adults do not plan to get vaccinated, while one-third of black adults say they plan to avoid shooting, according to the survey, which was developed in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Disease Control. Health Statistics. Hesitation among black and Hispanic populations is a special concern for public health officials, as those groups were among the populations most affected by the pandemic.
Public policy experts need to seek and prioritize the highest-risk populations, said Nancy Berlinger, a researcher at the Hastings Center, a bioethical think tank that issued guidance on effectively prioritizing access to the Covid-19 vaccine.
“Low risk and high privilege are easy to vaccinate,” said Dr. Berlinger. “The infection will continue to spread. The virus works against you. The virus gains if people at high risk of infection are still at risk. ”
Dr. Chris Pernell, a physician from Newark, New Jersey, who focuses on the broader health needs of the community and the systems that serve them, hosted live Zoom and Facebook sessions to engage with black and brown communities about the science behind vaccine and recognize the reasons why some may be skeptical or hesitant. She said people are eager for information right now. Dr. Pernell, who is black, said she shares with her audience that she decided to participate in one of the first clinical trials of the vaccines and that she too was injured by Covid-19, which killed her father.
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“The only thing you shouldn’t do is devalue or diminish the concerns that are in different communities,” said Dr. Pernell. “We cannot begin to shame or stigmatize groups in which there have been historical injustices that have contributed to broken trust.”
During her discussions, she sometimes acknowledges that some mistrust among black people stems from the history of unethical medical research, such as the study of Tuskegee’s syphilis, which began in the 1930s and continued for 40 years. The black men who participated were not informed about the true nature of the research and some were deprived of penicillin when it was found to be an effective treatment.
Unvaccinated black adults, more than any other group, mentioned among the reasons against the administration of the vaccine that a doctor did not recommend the vaccine. In previous surveys, 79% of American adults who had not yet been vaccinated said that the opinion of their health care provider would be a key factor in their decision to vaccinate.
Write to Julie Wernau to [email protected]
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