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Data: KFF vaccination monitor from September 2021; Graphic: Jacques Schrag / Axios
Conservative media sometimes blame the unvaccinated problem on people of color, but the data shows that vaccine resistance is mostly in Red America and young adults now.
Why is this important: The numbers show a much different story on the areas where we still need to focus our immunization efforts.
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In numbers : 59% of the unvaccinated are Republicans, 64% are white, and 46% have a high school diploma or less. More than half of the unvaccinated live in the suburbs and 27% live in rural areas.
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In contrast, 14% are black, 16% Hispanic and 27% live in cities.
Between the lines: These unvaccinated adults tend to deny COVID and often see their decision not to be vaccinated as an expression of their personal freedom.
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When they get vaccinated, persuasion and information don’t affect them as much as seeing family, friends and neighbors get sick, go to the hospital and die, and see local news stories about their hospitals. rooms overwhelmed with COVID patients.
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Employer mandates are another reality influencing their behavior, as companies that instituted them report that their employees choose paychecks over vaccine resistance.
We can’t know what vaccine resistance would look like in Red America today without the efforts of former President Trump to deny the severity of the pandemic and several Republican governors to echo similar views and block measures to public health like prescriptions or mask warrants.
The plot: Then there is another group that also makes up a significant portion of the unvaccinated: young adults. Almost 40% of the unvaccinated are between 30 and 49 years old and 27% are between 18 and 29 years old.
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These are the groups that get much of their COVID information from social media and are particularly prone to myths and misinformation. They will make the critical decisions about immunizing the next large group of unvaccinated Americans, children.
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Almost half (48%) of parents of children aged 12 to 17 report that their child has received at least one dose of a vaccine.
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With Pfizer’s clinical trials showing their COVID-19 vaccine to be safe and effective for children aged five to eleven, at this early stage, about a third of parents (34%) say they will immunize their 5-year-old. at age 11 “immediately” once a vaccine is cleared for their age group.
It is not clear whether unvaccinated parents will be just as careful about vaccinating their children or more likely to put their qualms about vaccination aside to protect them as they see more and more. stories of children’s hospitals being filled and schools closed as children and staff are infected.
The bottom line: Equity requires a continued strong focus on immunization in communities of color where there is a disproportionate risk of poor outcomes from COVID infection and historic structural inequities.
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However, if the vaccination effort is to go where the bulk of the problem lies, it is now mainly Red America, young adults and their children.
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