As Biden faces vaccine reluctance, Republicans are a particular challenge

WASHINGTON – As President Biden strives to vaccinate as many Americans as possible, he faces deep skepticism from many Republicans, a group that is particularly difficult for him to convince.

While there are degrees of opposition to the coronavirus vaccination among a number of groups, including African Americans and anti-vaccine activists, polls suggest opinions in this case are breaking down considerably along lines. partisan.

A third of Republicans said in a CBS News poll that they would not be vaccinated – compared to 10% of Democrats – and 20% of Republicans said they were unsure. Other polls have found similar trends.

With the Biden administration prepping TV and internet advertising and other efforts to promote vaccination, the challenge for the White House is complicated by perceptions of former President Donald J. Trump’s stance on the issue. Although Mr Trump was vaccinated before stepping down and urged the Conservatives last month to get vaccinated, many of his supporters seem reluctant to do so and he has not played any leading role in promoting the vaccination.

Asked about the matter at the White House on Monday, Biden said Mr. Trump’s help in promoting vaccination was less important than the participation of trusted figures in the community.

“I’ve discussed this with my team, and they say that what has more impact than anything Trump would say to the folks at MAGA is what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people say in the community, ”Mr. Biden said, referring to Mr. Trump’s supporters and the campaign slogan“ Make America Great Again ”. Until everyone is vaccinated, Biden added, Americans should continue to wear masks.

Widespread opposition to vaccination, if not overcome, could slow the United States from reaching the point where the virus can no longer spread easily, delaying efforts to get the economy back on track and resume a more normal life. While the problem so far has been accessing relatively tight supplies of the vaccine, administration officials expect to soon be faced with the possibility of supply exceeding demand if many Americans remain reluctant. .

But many conservative and rural voters continue to report a variety of concerns. Some conservatives have religious concerns about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which uses fetal cell lines derived from abortion.

Republicans often cite distrust of the government as a reason for not getting the vaccine, according to the CBS poll. They fear that the vaccines were produced too quickly. And in some communities, so many people have already had the coronavirus that they think they have developed herd immunity and do not need vaccines.

Other Mr. Trump supporters believe Democrats have exaggerated the pandemic’s toll to hurt the former president.

This presents a major challenge for a Democratic administration whose success depends on persuading Americans who did not vote for Mr. Biden to believe that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary.

“We’re not always the best messengers,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week.

This has meant the outsourcing of a crucial part of the administration’s response to coronaviruses.

“It’s not an easy business,” said John Bridgeland, founder and CEO of Covid Collaborative, a bipartisan group of political and scientific leaders working on vaccine education, which has regular meetings with the White House on the issue of reluctance to vaccination. .

“The good news is that the White House has been all over these populations, including recognizing that they are not very well placed to reach out to conservatives,” he said. “That’s why they contact us, us and the others.”

Governors have urged the Biden administration on the need for clear communication on vaccines.

White House officials said their research showed making vaccines more accessible and gaining local buy-in from doctors and pharmacists was the best way to get skeptical conservatives to sign up for a vaccine. They are planning a TV, radio and internet advertising blitz to target problem areas: young people, people of color and conservatives, an administration official said.

Even as they strive to increase vaccine availability across the country, administration officials are also working with groups like the NTCA – the Rural Broadband Association and the National Farmers Union to reach rural communities in their name.

Shirley Bloomfield, the association’s chief executive, worked with the White House to share what she’s hearing from members on the ground who have set up broadband lines in rural areas.

“We made sure they were designated as essential workers at the federal level,” she said. “I didn’t realize we had this problem until people came back and said less than 30% of my team would take the picture.”

Ms Bloomfield said the office of the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, contacted her directly to ask questions about its members and their attitude towards vaccines.

Mr. Trump obtained his vaccine in secret before stepping down. He was notably absent from a public service announcement featuring all the other living former presidents – Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter – getting vaccinated and encouraging others to follow suit.

Mr. Trump was not invited to participate, like the others, because at the time of filming, during Mr. Biden’s inauguration, he had not yet revealed that he had been vaccinated.

But behind the scenes, there has been a quiet effort to persuade Mr. Trump to get involved. Joe Grogan, the former director of the White House Home Policy Council, under the leadership of Mr. Trump, worked with the Covid Collaborative to tackle the conservatives’ reluctance to vaccinate.

Mr Grogan responded to calls about the best message to send to Mr Trump to persuade him to get involved – one that would inevitably underscore his desire for credit for vaccine development as part of Operation Warp Speed.

“As soon as we found out he was vaccinated, I contacted Joe Grogan,” said Mr. Bridgeland, who helped organize the ad featuring the past presidents. “We were delighted that he got the shot and we really want him to encourage his supporters to get the shot.”

A Trump adviser said the former president has yet to be formally approached to speak directly to his supporters.

“It would be very helpful for President Trump to make a public service announcement,” Grogan said. The Biden White House, however, seems divided over the effectiveness of Mr. Trump’s involvement.

Although Mr Biden appeared dismissive on Monday of the need for Mr Trump’s help, his chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony S. Fauci, told Fox News on Sunday that it “would make all the difference in the world. If the former president would encourage his supporters to get vaccinated. And Andy Slavitt, a senior White House pandemic adviser, said on Sunday that “it’s an effort, Republicans should know, that started before we got here, and we’re getting it through.”

Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, said the best solution for the White House would be to remove politics from the issue.

“This means Joe Biden should recognize what Donald Trump has done to speed up vaccine delivery,” Luntz said. He worked with the Beaumont Foundation, an organization focused on improving public health through policy, to help encourage conservatives to get vaccinated.

“I don’t think the Trump administration understood the role of communication,” Mr. Luntz said, “and I don’t think the Biden administration understands what it means to communicate to Trump voters.”

On Saturday, Mr. Luntz hosted a panel discussion of about 20 conservatives to hear from Tom Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey; and several Republican members of Congress.

Some of the conservatives on the call initially described the vaccines as “rushed” and “experimental” and the coronavirus as “opportunistic” and “government manipulation”. More than half of those polled said their fears of getting the vaccine were greater than their fears of the virus.

But almost everyone on the call said they had a more positive opinion about vaccines after Mr Frieden gave them five facts about the virus, including: “The more we vaccinate, the faster we can grow it. ‘economy and find jobs.’

Mr Christie pointed out how random the virus can be in the way it affects different people, including young adults. Not only were he and Mr. Trump seriously ill, but he also reminded the group that Hope Hicks, the 32-year-old former Trump adviser, was also very ill.

“She was away for a good 10 days and never had to be hospitalized, but she called me and said she was the sickest she has ever been,” Mr. Christie said.

For now, the White House is relying on the work of political opponents like Mr. Christie to sell them the message. The only backup for the Biden administration they see as effective among conservatives is Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, who is a scientist and evangelical Christian with a position in both the religious and scientific communities. .

In recent weeks, Dr Collins has appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club”, a popular show among evangelical Christians that has been hosted for decades by Pat Robertson. Dr Collins also plans to speak to the National Association of Evangelicals, according to a person familiar with the planning.

Joshua DuBois, the former head of the White House’s Office of Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships, under Obama’s leadership, said he was impressed by the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce reluctance to the vaccination.

He said key Biden advisers like Marcella Nunez-Smith and Cameron Webb had called for the religious community to answer questions about vaccines. The calls included black and Hispanic organizations and white evangelicals.

Mr. DuBois acknowledged that the reluctance of minority communities is rooted in history. When coronavirus vaccines were introduced last year, researchers followed an increase in social media posts about the infamous Tuskegee study in which health officials followed African-American men infected with syphilis. and have not dealt with them.

“There is a history of mistrust, but current devastation is happening around us,” Mr. DuBois said, “and in response to that devastation, people are choosing to be vaccinated.”