Many hesitate to get vaccine, but reluctance is easing

So few people came for COVID-19 vaccinations in one county in North Carolina that hospitals there now allow anyone 16 or older to get a shot, regardless of where they live. Get a shot, get a free doughnut, the governor said.

Alabama, which has the nation’s lowest vaccination rate and a county where only 7 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, launched a campaign to convince people the shots are safe.

On the national level, the Biden administration this week launched a “We Can Do This” campaign to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated against the virus that has claimed over 550,000 lives in the U.S.

The race is on to vaccinate as many people as possible, but a significant number of Americans are so far reluctant to get the shots, even in places where they are plentiful. Twenty-five percent of Americans say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

They are leery about possible side effects. They tend to be Republican, and they are usually younger and less susceptible to becoming critically ill or dying if they catch COVID-19.

There’s been a slight shift, though, since the first weeks of the nation’s largest-ever vaccination campaign, which began in mid-December. An AP-NORC poll conducted in late January showed that 67 percent of adult Americans were willing to get vaccinated or had already received at least one shot. Now that figure has climbed to 75 percent.

That, experts say, moves the nation closer to herd immunity, which occurs when enough people have immunity, either from vaccination or past infection, to stop uncontrolled spread of a disease.

Anywhere from 75 percent to 85 percent of the total population — including children, who are not currently getting the shots — should be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, said Ali Mokdad, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

A little over three months after the first doses were given, 100 million Americans, or about 30 percent of the population, have received at least one dose.

In the latest poll, Republicans remained more likely than Democrats to say they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated, 36 percent compared with 12 percent. But fewer Republicans today are reluctant. Back in January, 44 percent said they would shy away from a vaccine.