So few people came for COVID-19 vaccinations in one county in North Carolina that hospitals there now allow anyone 16 or older to receive a shot no matter where they live. Take a shot, get a free donut, the governor said.
Alabama, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country and a province where only 7% of residents are fully vaccinated, launched a campaign to convince people the shots are safe. Doctors and pastors joined the effort.
Nationally, the Biden administration launched a “We Can Do This” campaign this week to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated against the virus that has claimed more than 550,000 lives in the US.
The race has begun to vaccinate as many people as possible, but a significant number of Americans have so far been reluctant to take the photos, even in places where they are plentiful. Twenty-five percent of Americans say they are likely or definitely not going to be vaccinated, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
They are suspicious of possible side effects. They are usually Republican, and they are usually younger and less likely to get seriously ill or die if they get COVID-19.
However, there has been a slight shift since the first weeks of the country’s largest-ever vaccination campaign, which began in mid-December. An AP-NORC poll conducted in late January found that 67% of adult Americans were willing to get vaccinated or had already received at least one injection. Now that figure has risen to 75%.
That, experts say, brings the nation closer to herd immunity, which occurs when enough people have immunity, either to vaccination or previous infection, to stop the uncontrolled spread of a disease.
Anywhere from 75% to 85% of the total population – including children, who don’t currently get the photos – must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
Just over three months after the first doses were given, 100 million Americans, or about 30% of the population, have received at least one dose.
Andrea Richmond, a 26-year-old freelance web coder in Atlanta, is one of those whose reluctance is on the wane. A few weeks ago, Richmond tended not to get the picture. Possible long-term effects worried her. She knew that an H1N1 vaccine used in Europe years ago increased the risk of narcolepsy.
Then her sister was vaccinated with no ill effects. The opinions of Richmond’s friends also changed.
“They went from ‘I don’t trust this’ to ‘I’m all puffy, let’s go out!’ ”
Her mother, a cancer survivor who lives with Richmond, is so desperate for her daughter to be vaccinated that she signed her up online for a shot.
“I’ll probably take it,” Richmond said. “I think it is my civic duty.”
But some are steadfastly opposed.
“I think I’ve only had the flu once,” said Lori Mansour, 67, who lives near Rockford, Illinois. “So I think I’ll take my risk.”
In the latest poll, Republicans remained more likely than Democrats to say they are likely or certainly not to be vaccinated, 36% compared to 12%. But slightly less Republicans are reluctant today. In January, 44% said they would avoid a vaccine.
The hesitation can be seen in rural Winston County, Alabama, which is 96% white and where more than 90% of voters backed then-President Donald Trump last year. Only 6.9% of the county’s approximately 24,000 residents are fully vaccinated, the lowest level in Alabama.
Elsewhere in Alabama, health officials sought to address issues, including reluctance in heavily black areas where mistrust of government medical initiatives is high. They targeted a few provinces with a pro-vaccination message, especially in the old plantation area where a large percentage of the population is black and many poor.
The campaign enlisted doctors and pastors and used virtual meetings and the radio to spread the word.
Dr. Karen Landers, an assistant state health officer, said the effort had positive results. For example, in Perry County, where 68% of the population of about 9,300 is black, more than 16% of the population is fully vaccinated, one of the highest levels. Officials are likely to make similar efforts for other parts of the state, she said.
Across the country, 24% of Black Americans and 22% of Hispanic Americans say they are likely or definitely not going to be vaccinated, up from 41% and 34% in January, respectively. Of white Americans, 26% now say they will not be vaccinated. In January this was 31%.
The Biden administration’s campaign features ads on TV and social media. Celebrities, community and religious figures participate.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, is trying to win over a third of adult Iowans who won’t commit to getting a vaccine by insisting that the shots will help bring life back to normal.
In Cumberland County, North Carolina, less than 1 in 6 residents have been given at least one chance.
Amid concerns that there would be an unused surplus of vaccines, Cape Fear Valley Health’s hospital systems last week opened the shots to anyone 16 or older.
“Rather than leaving doses unused, we want to give more people the opportunity to get their vaccine,” said Chris Tart, vice president of Cape Fear Valley Health. “We hope this will encourage more people to roll up their sleeves.”
On Wednesday, Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, tweeted a video in which he got a free donut from the Krispy Kreme chain. Customers who show their vaccination card can get a free donut every day for the rest of the year.
“Do it today, guys!” Cooper encouraged viewers. Nearly 36% of adults in North Carolina are at least partially vaccinated, state data shows.
Younger people are more likely to refrain from an injection. Of those under 45, 31% say they are likely or certain to forgo admission. Only 12% of people over 60 say they will not be vaccinated.
Ronni Peck, a 40-year-old mother of three from Los Angeles, is one of those planning to get vaccinated, at least for now. She is concerned that vaccines have not been studied for long-term health effects. She feels some friends disapprove of her point of view.
“But I no longer care about whether I feel banned or not, and have instead learned to spend more time on whether I’m doing the right thing for myself and my kids,” said Peck.
Deborah Fuller, a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said if the herd’s immunity levels cannot be reached quickly, a more realistic goal could be to vaccinate at least 50% of the population this summer, with a higher vaccination coverage among the most vulnerable to reduce serious illness, hospital admissions and deaths.
“In this scenario, the virus would persist in the population but would no longer be a major health threat that overloads our healthcare systems,” Fuller said.
Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Fingerhut reported from Washington. Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Bryan Anderson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, also contributed to this story.
The AP-NORC survey of 1,166 adults was conducted March 26-29 using a sample of NORC’s Probability-Based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.