Here's a baker's dozen list of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in the United States:
- Fear of side effects. This is the #1 reason.
- Needle fear.
- Cost. For reasons both reasonable and otherwise, a lot of low-income people are afraid they will end up being charged for their vaccination.
- Young people who think they're invincible. And in fairness, their risk from the coronavirus is pretty low.
- Distrust of the medical establishment among Black people.
- Fear of fertility problems among women of childbearing age. This is straight-up disinformation, but it's still fairly common.
- Religious objections. In some case, this is about religious doctrines that oppose putting foreign substances into the body. In others, it's an almost fatalistic attitude that God decides who lives and who dies, so vaccination is pointless.
- Distrust of new ideas or "outsiders telling us what to do" among rural residents.
- Right-wing hostility to the whole idea of masks, social distancing, vaccines, and anything else that they code as "liberals trying to take away my freedom."
- General opposition to all vaccines among anti-vaxxers.
- Concerns about the long-term safety of the vaccines.
- Lack of concern about COVID-19 from people who think it's been over-hyped.
- "Wait and see," a catch-all category for people who haven't been vaccinated and have only vague reasons for it.
Every one of these requires a different approach. Some are probably hopeless, including religious objections and right-wing paranoia. Others, like the fertility urban legend, might be amenable to plain informational campaigns. Concerns about long-term safety are a tough nut, since obviously we can't honestly say for sure that we know this is unjustified.
In any case, the lesson here is to forget about the partisan noise. Let right-wingers do what they want and instead focus our attention on all the other vaccine-hesitant groups. They're far more likely to be persuadable.
I guess these could be a subset of "cost" but...
14. Transportation. Not all Americans have cars. Not all vaccine sites are on public transportation routes. This actually was the reason for my 70+ year old aunts not getting their shots until last month: all the available appointments they were offered required a car to get to them.
15. Work and/or child care obligations. Not all Americans have employers willing to give them time off on 2 separate days to get the shots. And not all vaccine sites are open during the days and times when those people with stingy employers aren't typically working. Plus, not everyone wants to lug their kids in tow with them to their appointments, nor can they afford to find child care for the few hours it would take to go to their appointments alone.
Don't forget about the fear of microchips hidden in the vaccines. I've encountered this one personally.
I haven't had the "pleasure" yet, but if I do, I'll point out to them that they are carrying a (comparatively) macro chip in their pocket which tracks them 24/7. Even if it's an Apple device, since the telecoms must track them for the cellular system to work.
I am vaxxx'd up & ready to go, but I hate needles & wish Bill Gates had used the Hebraic Laser as a chip delivery system instead.
I could have sworn you'd made a post not all that long ago, but perhaps still in the "MoJo era" which downplayed that. Anyway, while I have been looking for that, some additional tidbits I've encountered:
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2021/01/can-we-have-half-the-country-vaccinated-by-the-end-of-march/ As a classic example of incurring the wrath of Berra.
Anyway, perhaps https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2020/09/where-is-vaccine-skepticism-coming-from/ is what I was thinking of.
My recollection is that he specifically downplayed Tuskegee as the reason Black people distrusted the medical establishment, but rather that they've had other reasons for distrust that may be less evil but more pertinent to their own experience.
Re God’s will, my brother, the Reverend Bruce, tells an old joke about the guy who prays every day to win the lottery. Near dying, he finally laments, “God, I’ve only ever asked you for one thing, why haven’t you let me win the lottery?” A voice from the heavens replies, “Meet me half-way, buy a damn ticket.” God’s trying to save you from COVID, get the damn shot.
I don't suppose it's an actual biblical quote, but I've sure heard "God helps those who help themselves" plenty of times. Even from self-professed Christians. I suppose they aren't the same ones who just say that when they die is their god's will.
Kevin lists the reasons that people *say* they won't get the vaccine. Trumpistas are not going to say "I won't get the vaccine because it's something that liberals do and my group doesn't" - they will give an excuse.
Nevertheless it will do no good to tell people they are idiots because they do what their group does (most people act this way). Ideally the media could answer the first argument by giving the probability of getting a harmful side effect of the vaccine compared to that of getting the virus. But most reporters seem not to understand probabilities so they will not be explaining them.
But again, getting the facts across through statements of authorities is hard because Republican pols as well as Fox News are deliberately doing all they can to discredit authorities, mainly just to foment partisan division.
14. Lack of data regarding pregnant women and impact on fetus.
Great addition to the list. It only affects a small number of people. But, even though I was quick to get myself vaccinated as fast as I could get an appointment, if I were a pregnant woman, I would hold off until after the baby is delivered, particularly in this environment where the incidence of infection in most places is falling rapidly. Nobody can say what impact it might have on the baby's development. It's probably OK, but the stakes are too high for just that level of assurance.
Yes, you do have to weigh that against the risk of damage to the fetus in the event of Covid-19 infection itself. But we actually have some data on that and it doesn't look too bad so far. And in the current environment where your risk of getting Covid-19 is not nearly as high as it was, I think a pregnant woman could rationally conclude it's best to postpone the vaccination until after delivery.
Large numbers of pregnant women have been vaccinated. It's true that it will take a few years to definitely say that the vaccines have had no effect on the children, but so far there are no reported effects. In addition, the only cases where other vaccines have had harmful effects on fetuses are those cases where the disease harms fetuses (e.g. rubella) and the vaccine uses whole viruses, either killed or attenuated. Covid has no apparent effect on fetuses, and the vaccines approved in the US do not use whole viruses in any case. The odds are extremely high that none of the covid vaccines will harm fetuses, whereas it is quite certain that if the mother dies, the fetus also dies.
I think Kevin was (clumsily) trying to include this in his #6 "Fear of fertility problems among women of childbearing age." From the pregnant women I know, I don't know that their fear was "this vaccine might make me sterile" so much as it was more "this vaccine might affect my future baby."
I don't think it's included in 6. Kevin says that #6 is straight up disinformation (that it's not true that the vaccine affects fertility). But we just don't know what impact it does have on a fetus and we won't know for years. So he's referring to something else.
Agreed. I'm a 63-year-old male, so it's kind of hypothetical, but I've had plenty of discussion with female friends of childbearing age. I think if I were in that category, I would put it off until I gave birth, as have many of them.
After today my vaccination will be fully installed, so those idiots can go croak and decrease the surplus population.
I'll add another reason - keeping the peace with an ill-informed significant other. My brother and his wife want to get pregnant this summer. Even though they both take covid seriously, my SIL can not be convinced that the vaccine is safe for pregnant or soon to be pregnant women. She also does not want my brother to get the vaccine prior to her getting pregnant. Even though my brother thinks it's fine to get the jab, he does not want to be harangued for hours a day by his wife for getting it.
I work with a guy in a similar situation. His GF is militantly anti-vaccine. If he didn't live with her, he'd probably be fine getting it. But just like my brother, if he were to get the shot, he'd end up getting berated for hours for his decision.
The answer to that one is obvious. What they don't know won't hurt them.
+1
Going beyond mere persuasian, restricting the privileges of the unvaccinated makes sense. Foreign travel often requires proof of having had various vaccinations. Ditto for attending school (I'm thinking of the older levels, like college or voc school.)
More likely, having special "distanced" sections at sporting events, with a limited number of seats and limited concession service.
There are lots of potential venues where restrictions make perfect sense, and aren't just punitive for the sake of being punative.
The market may help. I'm guessing that health insurance providers already have the rate differential figured out for those w/ vs. w/o the vaccine and are just biding their time to initiate it.
Those "distanced" seats would be very expensive, since at least half of the regular seats would have to be left empty.
Many of the categories that Kevin mentioned do not overlap with foreign travel or attendance at higher-level educational institutions.
Recent surveys have found that Black Americans are no more likely to distrust medical advice than other Americans. Can we please drop this particular canard?
Possibly so. I have no reason to distrust you or your motives, but my personal experience somewhat contradicts that. So I'd really like to see a citation for that .
Re: Religious objections. In some case, this is about religious doctrines that oppose putting foreign substances into the body. In others, it's an almost fatalistic attitude that God decides who lives and who dies, so vaccination is pointless.
Is this really a thing, other than maybe among some odd splinter cults? OK, and maybe the Christian Science folks if they still exist. I think even the Amish do not object to the use of modern medication. I grew up Catholic and I've been Eastern Orthodox for twenty five years-- and I have never encountered a religious opinion along those lines when it comes to medicines.
You obviously missed this brouhaha between certain Catholics and the J&J vaccine. Long story short, apparently some US bishops tell their parishioners that the J&J vaccine is to be avoided because it was developed from aborted fetus cells. And we all know by now how the Catholic Church feels about anything remotely related to abortion, as the Little Sisters of the Poor and other Catholic institutions can't even bring themselves to fill out paperwork, if it enables someone somewhere to have consequence-free sexytime.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/archdiocese-new-orleans-johnson-vaccine/
Here's the real reason people don't get vaccinated,
editorial cartoon from thirty years ago might have been drawn yesterday,
https://i.redd.it/8uxrkvfgg9171.jpg
Under the religious objection category, the "End Times Are Near" crowd needs to be included. Just because God says who lives and dies isn't enough for these people. The apocalyptic viewpoint means there's certainly no concern about long-term side effects, nor a worry about spreading the virus to others.
Many religious really believe that when they die they will be going to "a better place!" As long as they truly Believe and demonstrate their Faith by Trusting in The Lord by indulging in risky behavior like handling venomous serpents or participating in super-spreader events.
I was hesitant at the beginning, not so much afraid of the risk of the vaccine(s). But I am immuno compromised from treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and cancer and feared that without a robust immune system that the vaccines depend upon for antibody production the inoculation may be wasted. Consultations with my rheumatologist and oncologists said get the vaccine. In addition Dr Fauci says a little protection is better than none. So I got my first shot of Pfizer four weeks ago. (We also switched me from chemo to imunotherapy and switched my RA from dexamethasone (Howdy, Kevin!) to prednisone.)
Wait a minnit! You left off the microchips!
I smell a conspiracy . . .
The local television news station told viewers, that if they were uninsured, "experts" told them that people should keep an eye out for mobile vaccination sites set up by a local group offering free vaccines.
That was bunk. I was outraged and left a comment asking who those "experts" were. This kind of stuff annoys the hell out of me. You can't be trusted if you're making an appeal to authority -- "experts say" -- and give out wrong information.
(KGW News in Portland, you're shit to me.)
> Concerns about long-term safety are a tough nut, since obviously we can't honestly say for sure that we know this is unjustified.
Um, yeah, because people who were vaccinated 200 years ago might suddenly start showing that vaccines are unsafe after 300 years.
There's been plenty of opportunity for evidence of long term harm from vaccines to present itself. If it hasn't presented itself, there's a reason for that.
'In any case, the lesson here is to forget about the partisan noise. Let right-wingers do what they want and instead focus our attention on all the other vaccine-hesitant groups. They're far more likely to be persuadable.'
Alright, that is a persuasive argument. However, if you think that forgetting the utter lack of any sense of Civic Duty at all, on the part of conservatives is a good thing, I beg to differ.
13. Such a profound sense of white entitlement, that Civic Duty itself is considered a sin.