Only 49% of Americans Plan to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19. Yes, You Should Be That Shocked
By: Luca Rossi
Tags: Health, Covid 19, Society, Coronavirus, Science

I am always fascinated by all the wonderful things people can create. Vaccines are one of those things. We have the ability to find ways to become immune to viruses without getting sick.

But sometimes, people can really disappoint me.

A survey conducted by the AP-NORC Center in May 2020 showed that 49% of Americans plan to get vaccinated, 20% don’t, and 31% are unsure.

Image by apnorc.org

Old people are more willing to get vaccinated than young people. It partly surprised me, because old people tend to be more skeptical in general. But it’s also true that they are the ones who risk more lethal complications.

White people are more will willing to get vaccinated than Blacks or Hispanics. I personally think that this has more to do with the economical status than with the race. Minorities have a lower average income than Whites in the US. They may be worried about the direct and indirect costs of vaccination. But it’s just my personal hypothesis.

Democrats are more willing to get vaccinated than Republicans. It didn’t really surprise me. As a liberal, I know I can be biased, and I know that there are very smart conservatives too, so don’t take it personally. But the numbers speak for themselves here. Also, I was a bit surprised that Independents are the most unsure. Maybe, since they are very moderate in their political views, they tend to be very moderate in everything? Not that it’s a bad thing.

Image by apnorc.org

The reasons why one would get the vaccine are obvious. Protecting oneself, one’s family, and the community are the most common ones. But I was really curious about the reasons one would not get the vaccine.

Image by apnorc.org

All these reasons, except the allergy one, are very concerning. We will explore the top five in a moment.

Similar studies have been done everywhere. In Europe, the situation isn’t much different. A similar poll has been conducted in Italy, where I live, and it shows similar results.

Image by quotidianosanita.it

It translates to “I am willing to get vaccinated if a vaccine against COVID-19 will be identified”. The answers, left to right, are: “absolutely unlikely”, “somewhat unlikely”, “neither unlikely nor likely”, “somewhat likely”, “very likely”.

In the rest of this story, I will explore the reasons why people won’t get vaccinated, while also analyzing the psychology behind them.

Ignorance Is As Deadly As the Virus

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

It’s not news that there is a lot of misinformation about vaccines. This is a major concern, to the point that the World Health Organization listed “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the 10 major global health threats. And it was in 2019, before COVID.

Without even talking about the made-up causality between vaccines and autism, which is a conspiracy theory held by a minority, there are other unfounded concerns held by a larger share of the population. Let’s take another look at those shown by the poll:

“I would be concerned about side effects from the vaccine”. Yes, vaccines have side effects and no vaccine is 100% safe. But these side effects are no worse or more frequent than any drug you normally take. A vaccine will be deployed only after it will be scientifically proven that the benefits outweigh the risks.

“I would be concerned about getting infected with the coronavirus from the vaccine”. That’s the whole point! You get infected so that you build immunity, but with a virus that is weakened and unable to reproduce.

“I’m not concerned about getting seriously ill from the coronavirus”. More on that later.

“I don’t think vaccines work very well”. It’s true that most vaccines don’t have a 100% efficacy rate. A new vaccine is needed for influenza every year. But what do you have to lose? Even if the vaccine won’t work perfectly on you, it will probably still give you a partial immunity, and you would get less serious symptoms from an infection.

“The coronavirus outbreak is not as serious as some people say it is”. Are we still doing that? Coronavirus has already killed more than influenza normally does in a year without the lockdown. Coronavirus may be just like a bad flu for some people, but it’s been proven that it’s way more contagious.

It’s so disheartening that scientists are working hard on a vaccine to end this global crisis, but their efforts can be rendered worthless by mere human ignorance.

People Are Getting Bored with COVID, It’s Not Frightening Anymore

Photo by Jade Masri on Unsplash

After three months stuck at home, we got used to COVID. Now it’s part of our normal life, and we don’t care anymore.

Fear has diminished. Most countries have eased the lockdown and expect people to behave with common sense, adopting good habits like wearing masks. But people won’t do something that is not mandatory if it’s even a bit uncomfortable. It’s too hot to wear masks now. Who cares?

Take BLM protests, for example. I fully support the reasons behind these protests, but this was the worst timing possible. Furthermore, allow me to get a bit off-topic and share an unpopular opinion. It’s not like they are going to fix anything. Racism in the US is too deep-rooted in the nation’s history. Slavery in the past created a vicious circle in which racism and low opportunities for Blacks fed each other. Even after they were granted equal rights, Blacks got fewer chances to prove themselves and this further amplified racist views. Protests may alleviate some symptoms, but it will take much more to fix racism.

Fortunately, though, studies show that these protests didn’t increase the spread of COVID. So, why am I saying all this? The point I want to make is how little people care about COVID now. Most people knew that these protests would have increased the spread, even if it didn’t happen. But they didn’t care.

To make matters worse, most people have started to think that COVID has gotten weaker with summer weather.

This is not true. A virus never “gets weaker” on its own. It can only get stronger. It’s basic evolution.

Yes, the exponential spread has partially slowed down with the higher temperature. But this is only because, with hot weather, saliva drops evaporate faster, and the virus spreads with more difficulty. Yet the virus itself is the same as before.

After the summer, the spread will accelerate again, and we will likely get a second wave. If anything, the virus can only get more contagious with the summer, to adapt to a more difficult environment. But this is just my hypothesis, and I’m not a virologist, so I won’t make further predictions.

This summer is the quiet before the storm. At least in Europe, things look good for now. In Italy, we are getting just 100–200 new cases every day. But in the US, with its government’s poor management, things look very, very bad. And people just don’t care anymore.

Your Actions Matter. Remember, It All Started With a Single Person

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One of the reasons why people wouldn’t get vaccinated was the following: “I’m not concerned about getting seriously ill from the coronavirus”.

This is either ignorant or just selfish. As we are required to wear masks to protect others, we should get vaccinated not only to protect ourselves, but also to avoid being potential carriers of the virus. In other words, if you don’t get vaccinated, you may put several other people at risk.

And it’s not just the 2–3 people you can directly infect. Each of these people is another potential carrier that could infect another 2–3 people. This could grow exponentially and hundreds or thousands of people could get infected because you didn’t get vaccinated (and neither did they). Remember, it all started with a single person.

As I’m writing this, there are almost 11,500,000 confirmed cases, while the actual number is probably 5 or 10 times higher. All it took was just one person.

So, even if you don’t care about getting sick, you should get vaccinated for your friends, family, and community. It can actually make a difference.

According to estimates, 50 to 70% of the population would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

Vaccination is an act of social responsibility. It’s not enough to fight fake news about vaccines, people should also be made aware of the importance of vaccination as a duty towards others.

The virus itself is not the only challenge we are facing in this pandemic. The role of our opinions and decisions as responsible citizens poses a bigger challenge that will shape our future even beyond the pandemic.