That segment is lost, but didn't polling show it to be only around 20%? There are many more who remain unvaccinated for no good reason. I remember my hair stylist telling me that her whole family is vaccinated except for one child who is too young and a 20-year-old who "doesn't want it." No reason - just doesn't want it.
Sadly yes. There are people who railed on about Covid being no big deal and they don’t want to give that narrative up so they won’t get vaccinated. A lot of that is politically motivated. Those people are largely a lost cause when it comes to vaccinations and it’s still likely 20%+ of the adult population. I still think there are some people in the unvaccinated group that can be reached. They aren’t actively resisting the vaccine they just haven’t gotten it for logistical reasons or because they don‘t put a high priority on getting it. As we approach 70% of adults now that number gets smaller and smaller and if we got them all would probably get us between 75 and 80% of adults at most. When the dust settles on vaccinations by the end of Summer or this Fall that’s the best we can probably hope for. The only major thing that can still change is full authorization from the FDA. I have an uncle who isn’t vaccinated and says he will get one if they receive full authorization. It matters to some people even if that’s not totally logical.
I don't know - if someone has an ideological stance against vaccination, it's likely nothing will change it. But a young person who is unvaccinated for no particular reason could be reachable through something like a state lottery or some other type of incentive.
www.politico.com
My suspicion is that people who use this as an excuse will just move on to another excuse when the FDA gives its full approval. There are tons of illogical "reasons" from which to choose.
This is true. It’s why despite vaccines being readily available to everyone for months now we are still seeing hundreds of thousands of additional adults go in every day for a jab. Who knows why each of those people decided today was the day, but we (the government) need to continue to try to reach these people until that trickle slows to zero.
A lot will, but for some it may be the turning point. I do think there are some people who are just honestly skeptical of the vaccines due to the speed and newness of them. This same uncle made an appointment recently to get his JnJ shot and then they cancelled the appointment because the county stopped carrying JnJ. I tried to find him an appointment elsewhere for JnJ but he said he would wait and get Pfizer or Moderna as soon as they get FDA approval. I don’t think he believes in the Bill Gates chip thing or any of the wild conspiracy theories he just honestly is scared of the newness of the vaccines.
I do think, looking at my own state, that .1% of the population a day getting 1st doses is nothing to celebrate. There are people who had to wait for one reason or another and that's what we're seeing, not those with real hang ups. I am related to some who are holding out and no, I don't think we're ever going to reach them unless a hand is forced.
976,000 additional first doses on July 1 with 800K adults 18+. As long as we continue to see new first doses every effort should be made and no stone should be left unturned. I’d like to see a stronger effort made to understand why people haven’t gone and then actions taken to solve those roadblocks. That has to be done at the local level for the most part. In some cases there’s not much that can be done we just have to wait for people to reach their own conclusions on it. As the late, great Tom Petty said “The waiting is the hardest part. Every day you get one more yard. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part.”
While there is some ideological based vaccine resistance, the low vaccination rates among people under 40 are seen across any ideological spectrum.How can any leader - outside of an absolute dictatorship - bring together people when 50% are trapped in an impermeable bubble (and I don’t mean WDW) and are living in a different reality than the other 50%? To the point that the two factions refuse to agree on what constitutes scientific fact and what constitutes harmful theory? People point to history as proof divisions can be overcome but social media and 24/7 cable networks didn’t exist during earlier crises.
A leader can use persuasion, facts, warnings, expert testimony, lead by example, etc. But when one side has been conditioned to think the other side is nothing but demon spawn whose number one goal is to destroy their lives…the only way the factions will change their thinking is when something catastrophic directly happens to them or their loved ones.
And in this particular case, 600,000+ people dead isn’t catastrophic enough, apparently, for those who have been told vaccines lead to genetic mutation or Bill Gates controlling their thoughts or the other side “winning.”
What really needs to happen is for the media targeted at the faction who are stopping the problem from being solved to cease their rhetoric and rally their audiences - but it’s far too lucrative for those media outlets (and the politicians who court their audiences) to continue pushing the demon spawn narrative than to look out for the entire population.
People get moved to action by things that startle them. It typically takes some kind of shocking visual to really startle people. 9/11 didn't cause the reaction that it did because of the number of deaths, it caused the reaction because there was video of planes crashing into buildings and buildings collapsing. Same thing with the Surfside collapse.
These are excellent points. It's often been said that the US is great at fixing the blame, but not so good at fixing the problem. Pointing fingers, labeling and name-calling may make one feel superior, but it does nothing to fix the problem. We need people to put emotions to the side and concentrate on finding workable solutions to getting more people vaccinated.
It can be done. Look at the efforts made around smoking. Through a series of smart and effective marketing campaigns smoking has become “uncool”. I’m not sure how much can be done with a covid vaccine to make it “cool” but efforts need to be made. I don’t think 20 year olds care what 800 year old Dr Fauci says or Joe Biden or their local Governor. Needs to be relatable.
If we unleashed the same kind of marketing power that convinces millions of Americans to eat garbage chain restaurant food, drink flavorless beer, shell out money they can't afford for every new iPhone with marginal differences from the last model... or continue to pay more for less at Disney World, we'd probably be approaching a 90% vaccination rate at this point.
And what conclusions are you drawing from this? Because our June 23rd looks a lot like their May 16, and our June 30th is omitted. We know that date is worse, possibly like their June 4.
