SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) – With coronavirus shots now in the arms of nearly half of American adults, the parts of the US that excel and those struggling with vaccinations are starting to look like the political map of the country: deeply divided between red and blue states.
Up front is New Hampshire, where 65% of the population 18 and older has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Closely followed are New Mexico, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts at 55% or more. They all have a history of democratic voting and supported President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, at the bottom, there are five states where less than 40% have rolled up their sleeves for a chance. Four of them – Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee – lean Republican and voted for Donald Trump last fall. The fifth is Georgia, which has a Republican governor and backed the GOP’s presidential candidates for nearly three decades before narrowly backing Biden.
The emerging pattern: Americans in blue states who are Democratic seem to be vaccinated at more robust rates, while those in red Republican states seem to be hesitant.
“We can conclude that red states and voters who voted for Trump will be more difficult to vaccinate because we have really good survey data for that,” said Dr. Howard Forman, a professor of public health and management at the Yale School of Medicine.
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found in late March that 36% of Republicans said they probably or certainly will not be vaccinated, compared to 12% of Democrats. Likewise, one-third of Americans in rural areas said they were prone to firing, while less than one-fourth of people in cities and suburbs shared that hesitation.
Forman warned that in most U.S. states that receive vaccine shipments based on population, demand for the shot still outweighs supply. So it’s hard to know how many people are resisting until everyone who wants the photos gets them. But if states soon begin to see a significant number of unfilled appointments with many people still not vaccinated, he said the consequences could be serious.
“We could see substantial outbreaks for a long time,” said Forman. “It will determine whether we return to normal in some cases.”
Previous AP-NORC polls have shown more Republicans than Democrats say the government has exaggerated the threat of the virus. Republicans are also more opposed to restrictions and the wearing of masks.
The CDC reports that nearly 121 million U.S. adults – or 47% of the adult U.S. population – have received at least one injection of coronavirus. California, the largest blue state in the country, is slightly ahead of that pace at 50%. The largest red state, Texas, is lagging behind at less than 44%.
How quickly states vaccinate does not always depend on how they vote.
Deep red South Dakota is one of the most successful states, with 54% of the population receiving injections. Of the blue states, Nevada is the furthest behind the US at less than 44%, followed by Oregon and Michigan at 45% each.
New Hampshire, which leads the nation in adult vaccinations, has a Republican governor and a GOP-controlled legislature. However, Democrats have all their seats in Congress, and the state has been consistently democratic in every presidential election since 2008.
West Virginia, where Trump won 66% of the vote last year, became an early success story in the vaccine rollout as the first US state to include all nursing homes. But while Republican Jim Justice government has remained a vaccine cheerleader, West Virginia now lags behind the US overall with less than 42% of the population receiving at least one dose.
Among those who say they will not be vaccinated is 58-year-old Martha Brown. Sitting outside her Charleston, West Virginia apartment complex, Brown said she fears a bad reaction after a flu shot last year left her with cold symptoms.
“I’m fine without it,” said Brown. “I wear my mask all the time.”
Experts said it’s too early to say if single dose shots of Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be interrupted will increase reluctance to get vaccinated. Government scientists are investigating reports of unusual blood clots in six women who have received the vaccine.
If the issue is resolved quickly and it is deemed safe to resume Johnson & Johnson shooting, there should be little impact on public confidence, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. She hopes the response itself assures people that “the system is working.”
“It’s really important to understand how closely we are monitoring everyone who gets the vaccine” for potential problems, Hannan said. “We have systems to connect the dots.”
In a suburb outside of Chicago, Jennifer Rockwood was getting ready to shoot her Johnson & Johnson Tuesday morning when she learned about the recommended break. She canceled her appointment after waiting months to get the vaccine.
‘Has it given me hesitation? Yes, it did, “said Rockwood, 49.” But I was right back at my counter and opened the laptop again and saw what I could do to schedule another. “
She made an appointment on Wednesday to get the Pfizer vaccine.
Trump has publicly urged Americans to get vaccinated, but also secretly received his own injections and only made them known after he left office. As president, he spent much of the pandemic minimizing the dangers of the virus, even after he was hospitalized with COVID-19.
Some Republican governors have also silenced their own vaccinations.
In Florida, where about 44% of the population has been given at least one chance, it has not been disclosed that GOP Governor Ron DeSantis was given the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine until a reporter asked the governor’s spokeswoman days later. Many other US governors have taken their pictures on camera or held news conferences around them in an effort to assure people that the vaccines are safe.
The Democratic Governor of Kentucky, a state that has the right to vote for Trump, is trying to convince more people to get stabbed by pledging to lift pandemic restrictions when vaccination coverage improves. About 1.6 million people in Kentucky have received at least one dose, a percentage equal to that in the US overall.
Gov. Andy Beshear said on Monday it will lift capacity restrictions on restaurants, shops, concert halls and other businesses once Kentucky reaches 2.5 million people who have had shots.
“Each individual’s choices can bring us closer to the standard we were looking for,” Beshear said.
AP writers Cuneyt Dil in Charleston, West Virginia, and Sophia Eppolito in Salt Lake City contributed.