As Delta Looms, COVID Antivaxxers Stay Stubborn

masslive.com

Nearly two-thirds of adults — 65% of adults in the United States — have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Of the remaining 35%, only 3% say they intend to get the vaccine as soon as they can.

What factors are stopping people from getting vaccinated?

“Because they don’t believe the safety data (waiting for full approval), because their friends and family aren’t vaccinated (norms), because they don’t have to, because they think the risk is gone,” Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency doctor and director of the Brown Lifespan Center for Digital Health said in a tweet Tuesday.

For June, the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor found that 76% of U.S. adults are optimistic that the country is nearing the end of the pandemic. The Vaccine Monitor study suggests that 73% of the public feels that “more people need to get the vaccine to help stop the spread of COVID-19,” while 22% say the number of cases “is so low that there is no need for more people to get the vaccine.”

“Public optimism about the end of the pandemic has the potential to hinder further vaccination efforts if low case rates decrease people’s sense of risk and therefore decrease their sense of urgency about getting vaccinated,” the study wrote.

Who you surround yourself with also impacts the likeliness of getting the vaccine. The study suggested that 77% of vaccinated adults said “everyone in their household is vaccinated” and 75% of unvaccinated adults saying “no one they live with is vaccinated.”

The newness of the vaccines and concerns about the side effects were also a main reason people are avoiding their dose.

Demographically speaking, 86% of Democrats reported receiving at least one dose of a vaccine compared to 52% of Republicans. Of people aged 65 or older, 85% reported receiving at least one dose.

“While vaccine intentions vary by party, race, ethnicity, age, and other demographics, at least half across most demographic groups now report being vaccinated, with the exception of those who lack health insurance, 48% of whom say they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine,” the study suggested.

Ranney tweeted what could incentivize more people to become vaccinated is full FDA approval of the vaccines, private business mandates for vaccines or another wave of COVID-19.

But according to the Vaccine Monitor, 92% of unvaccinated adults and 42% of vaccinated adults said they do not want their own employer to require getting the vaccine. When it comes to FDA approval, 31% of unvaccinated adults said they would be more likely to get a vaccine if it was fully FDA approved.

While COVID-19 cases have steadily decreased in Massachusetts due to vaccines, the virus is still a risk. The delta variant now accounts for more than half of the cases in the U.S.