The good news is that Massachusetts is leading the nation in receptivity to vaccine administration.
Only 6.98 percent of residents were reluctant to receive the vaccine, the lowest percentage in the country. This contrasted with the nation’s highest state, Wyoming, where more than 30 percent of people hesitated, according to federal estimates.
However, in Massachusetts, the estimated percentage of people who are reluctant to get the vaccine has ranged from 8.68 percent in Bristol County to 5.8 percent in Norfolk County (the least hesitant county in the nation), according to estimates.
The agency has developed estimates for both “hesitation” and “strong hesitation” among people aged 18 and over, using answers to the Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, which measures household experiences during the pandemic.
The “hesitation” group included people who said they “probably won’t get a vaccine” or “certainly won’t get a vaccine.” The “strong hesitation group” was a subgroup of the first group that included only people who said they “certainly won’t get a vaccine.”
This is what the state counties look like in terms of hesitation and strong hesitation.
Here’s a look at the counties in the United States.
The HHS Office of the Under-Secretary for Planning and Evaluation says on its website that the estimates were developed, using the Household Impulse Survey and other survey data, “to support state and local communication and outreach efforts.”
A survey published in March by a consortium that includes universities in the Northeast, Harvard, Rutgers and the Northwest also found Massachusetts with the lowest percentage of resident states that said “they will not receive the COVID vaccine. 19 ”.
Samuel Scarpino, an epidemiologist at Northeastern University, said the good news is that people in Massachusetts are receptive to getting shot, but the state must follow up and make these vaccinations happen, as well as other vaccinations for children once they do. are approved.
“It is wonderful that we are working with a situation in which many people want to receive the vaccine. We need to capitalize on this and make sure we all get it, ”he said.
He warned that as the weather warms up and the number of cases decreases, people may lose their sense of urgency. “There will not be so much hesitation, as” I can’t be bothered to browse the website, take time out of my day, etc. “That means we’re going to have to be more and more creative about getting vaccines where people are,” he said.
“I’m not finished. We need to take the vaccine into people’s arms and it will get harder before it gets better, “he said.
Robert Weisman and Emma Platoff of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Martin Finucane can be contacted at [email protected].