It happens that in the USA the vaccination campaign is stalled. The US has administered 230 million doses in a few months and 95 million people have been fully vaccinated, 29.04%, but the increase in this number on a daily basis is “only” 0.34% (data as of April 27), while 42.69% of Americans received a single dose, with a daily increase of 0.30%.
Hesitations but not distrust
Some analysts have calculated that it would take 68 days to reach 60% coverage of totally vaccinated people in the US, which would guarantee “near” herd immunity (young people would still be excluded) at this rate, but the pace is slowing. News reports are talking about a slowdown in dating nationwide. The number of daily doses administered has dropped from a peak of 4.6 million on April 10 to about 3 million. We talk about hesitation and of people who do not want to get the vaccine, some not even the second dose, but it seems that the majority are not prejudices towards the vaccination campaign or some specific vaccines: after the announcement of the break for the J&J vaccine, in fact, the 71% of people said in a survey that they were not “impressed” and that it was a good example of rigorous security monitoring. In another poll, 88% said the hiatus was the right choice.
The reasons and the levers
The medical analysis site Statnews argues in an article that it is not a question of resistance or opposition to vaccines, but rather of difficulty in reaching certain sections of the population, a difficulty increased by the way in which vaccines are spoken of and by lack of answers to some needs: Is hesitating skeptical or just having important questions about the vaccine? Did you have enough information and access to it? Or did he simply have no time or way to go to appointments? In a survey promoted by Brown University School of Public Health 63% of African American and Latin American people said they did not have enough information and those who opposed vaccination said they would change their minds to “see a trusted person vaccinated” or to have “a vaccination site close to home “. The conclusion of the article written by Stefanie Friedhoff, professor of practice in health services, policies and practices and strategic director at the Brown University School of Public Health, is that the community should come to terms with what really motivates people: “It is necessary to answer questions and prevent false narratives by flooding the online and offline spaces with high-quality information in the languages that people speak on the platforms they frequent.”
Some don’t take the second dose
The New York Times sheds light on another aspect of the matter: millions of Americans have not received the second dose. According to the most recent data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than five million people, nearly 8% of those who received a first dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccinesThe reasons are fears of side effects or the (erroneous) belief of being sufficiently protected with a single dose, but also some problems with stocks. This is no small issue, as a single dose triggers a weaker immune response and can leave recipients longer susceptible to variants of the virus.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice proposed giving $ 100 to every young person between 16 and 35 who gets vaccinated: in total it could take $ 27.5 million, but – the governor told detractors – in the last year alone West Virginia has spent $ 75 million to repeatedly test people for coronavirus, so Justice has relaunched: ” If I can do it … ». Over the past month, the seven-day average for vaccinations has dropped by nearly 50%. Of the 1.47 million eligible adults, 48% have not yet received a single dose, and hospitalizations in West Virginia have increased in the meantime. For this, “creative” ways are attempted.
Allowing the vaccinated more freedom
It is not the first of many incentives proposed by states, hospitals, schools and private employers for convincing Americans to get vaccinated. On Monday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that adults can have a free drink in some restaurants if they show the vaccination card. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro gave students a chance to win textbook money or one scholarship to cover accommodation costs for a full academic year. The University of Iowa has announced that it will offer one gift letter for the downtown Iowa City district.
Also allowing the vaccinated to do more and more freely than the unvaccinated (differentiated rules and vaccination passports) seems to be an incentive, so much so that one of the reasons why the vaccination campaign in Hong Kong does not take off seems to be that vaccinated people are subjected to the same rules of behavior as others. In the US, fully vaccinated people can now play sports and meet outdoors without a mask: the CDC have just updated the guidelines on this.
Maxi advertising campaign in the UK
In Britain, the government has vaccinated more than half of the entire population – 33.5 million people – with one first dose, and more than 12 million people have received two doses. Documentary photographers and filmmakers traveled to the UK in February and March to document the vaccination campaign live in hospitals, mobile vaccination units, nursing homes and some of the more unusual vaccination sites, such as Salisbury Cathedral and the Science Museum from London. Now (from Monday 3 May), reservations are open to the 44 year old class. Two-thirds of the previous age group – 45 to 49 years old – received the first dose. The National Health Service, NHS, will simultaneously launch one television campaign to encourage children under 50 to get vaccinated. Although 94% of all adults in the most recent survey by the Bureau of National Statistics responded positively about vaccines, about 1 in 8 young people in the 16-29 age group said they were hesitant, the highest score among all age groups. The TV commercial promoting the Covid-19 vaccine – with the slogan “Every vaccination gives us hope” – is mostly aimed at people under the age of 50 who are invited for their first dose, the Department of Health and Assistance said. Social. Showing scenes from vaccination centers across the country, it also aims to encourage those over 50 to receive the second dose. It will be accompanied by a poster campaign highlighting how the vaccine helps reduce infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
April 28, 2021 (change April 28, 2021 | 14:09)
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