HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — As the U.S. surpasses 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, there are plenty of vaccines available — but not everyone wants them.
Pennsylvania and other states across the country are seeing an increase in vaccination hesitancy.
The dwindling demand for vaccines illustrates the challenge that the U.S. faces in trying to conquer the pandemic while at the same time dealing with the optics of tens of thousands of doses sitting on shelves when countries like India and Brazil are in the midst of full-blown medical emergencies.
More than half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose with similar finding across the Commonwealth. So far, 27% of Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated and 44% have gotten their first dose.
Governor Tom wolf said the Department of Health continues to educate communities of color and rural areas where there has been vaccination resistance.
Just one month ago, Alison Beam, the acting secretary of health, explained why Pennsylvania couldn’t yet move beyond Phase 1A, at least not fully.
Then, the state spent one week in Phase 1B and one day in Phase 1C before opening eligibility to everyone 16 and older.
Organizers for the UPMC-sponsored clinic on the HACC Campus say there are plenty of open appointments for this week.
Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center even expanded to walk-in, same-day COVID-19 vaccine availability.
In Barber County, Kansas, which has turned down vaccine doses from the state for two of the past four weeks, Danielle Farr said she has no plans to be vaccinated. The 32-year-old said she got COVID-19 last year, along with her 5- and 12-year-old sons and her husband.
Blood tests detected antibodies for the virus in all four of them, so she figures they’re already protected.
“I believe in vaccines that have eradicated terrible diseases for the past 60, 70 years. I totally and fully believe in that,” said Farr, who works at an accounting firm. “Now a vaccine that was rushed in six, seven months, I’m just going to be a little bit more cautious about what I choose to put into my body.”
Barbara Gennaro, a stay-at-home mother of two small children in Yazoo City, Mississippi, said everybody in her homeschooling community is against getting the vaccine. Gennaro said she generally avoids vaccinations for her family in general, and the coronavirus vaccine is no different.
“All of the strong Christians that I associate with are against it,” she said. “Fear is what drives people to get the vaccine — plain and simple. The stronger someone’s trust is in the Lord, the least likely they are to want the vaccine or feel that it’s necessary.”
Another challenge for vaccinations in a rural state like Mississippi is that in many cases, doses are being shipped in large packages with one vial containing at least 10 doses.
During a news conference in early April, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Mississippi officials have requested that the federal government send the vaccines in smaller packaging so it’s not going to waste.
“If you’re in New York City, and you’re sending a package to one of the large pharmacies in downtown Manhattan, there are literally millions and millions of people within walking distance most likely of that particular pharmacy,” Reeves said. “Well, if you’re in rural Itta Bena, Mississippi, that’s just not the case.”
To combat the hesitancy, Louisiana continues to increase its outreach work with community organizations and faith-based leaders, set up a hotline to help people schedule appointments, and work to find free transportation to a vaccination center. The health department is sending out more than 100,000 mailers on Monday to encourage people to get vaccinated, and robocalls from regional medical directors are going out to landline phones around the state.
In New Mexico, state officials are exploring the recruitment of “community champions” — trusted residents of regions with vaccine hesitancy who can address concerns about safety and efficacy. Question-and-answer style town halls are also a possibility. And video testimonials about coronavirus vaccines already have been recorded.
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said now that everyone qualifies to get vaccinated, public health officials are encountering three groups: “not able,” “not now” and “not ever.”
The first group, he said, isn’t able to get their shots because they don’t have time. The “not nows” have earnest questions about vaccine safety, efficacy and whether they need the shot.
He said they’re not prepared to write off “not evers,” but instead are “working to find trusted messengers like doctors, family members, community members” to give them good information.
In Corinth, Mississippi, pharmacist Austin Bullard said a lot of people were waiting to become vaccinated until a one-dose shot became available. The news about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the risk for blood-clotting — however slim — has scared people about getting any type of vaccination.
“I do feel like there has been more hesitancy across the board since then,” he said.
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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas and Smith from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press journalists Melinda Deslatte contributed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
