Covid-19 vaccine demand is slowing in parts of the US. Now starts an uphill
Nearly three months later, with plenty of vaccine supply on hand and eligibility open to all residents 16 and older, officials struggled to fill appointments, said Kristy Fryman, the emergency response coordinator and public information officer for the Mercer County Health District. About 264 people received their first dose at the district’s clinic earlier this month — roughly half the number of people who were signing up at the start of the rollout.
“People in rural areas tend to have an attitude of being self-sufficient, especially among the younger population,” Fryman said. “We’ve also heard people are waiting to get the vaccine because they’re wanting to know the side effects down the road from it. And then another comment would be that the vaccine is just too new.”
“We’re reaching the point where we’re getting to the hard audiences,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). “The ones that either are unsure or on the fence about the vaccine, don’t have enough information or are just plain outright… not interested in the vaccine for other reasons.”
Experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, estimate somewhere between 70-85% of the country needs to be immune to the virus — either through inoculation or previous infection — to suppress its spread. But the US is nowhere near those levels yet and the slowing demand — especially now that eligibility has opened up — means getting there might be a taller task than some local officials expected.
A problem of demand
She told the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday that a major challenge for Covid-19 vaccinations in the coming months will be the demand: getting enough people signed up to take the shot. And there are several reasons why.
“The work that we’re doing on the equity piece needs to be done more deeply and done in the communities where people are living and working,” said NACCHO’s Freeman. “We have to be very creative in finding unique ways to reach people, including making sure that they have the easiest access possible to vaccine.”
In Mercer County, Fryman said officials are making efforts to make the vaccines more accessible, including events targeting the Hispanic population and initiatives to get more information to the Amish and Marshallese populations.
Other groups are hesitant, Gounder said, including younger Americans as well as what she calls the “moveable middle” — those who are on the fence but who may be swayed with more Covid-19 vaccine information.
“Then you have another group that is much more resistant, more entrenched in their views, it’s about 20% of Americans,” Gounder said. Those are more rural, conservative Americans who lack trust in the healthcare system and government, she said.
“That group is more challenging because it’s not necessarily a group that will respond to education the way that the sort of more moveable middle will,” Gounder said. “And that’s what we’re worried about.”
“It means that geographically…
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