SARS-CoV-2
Vaccination
Disinformation WHY ARE WE STUCK AT LESS THAN 60% OF AMERICA FULLY VACCINATED?
By Terry Clark, MD, FCAP In June 2021 infections by the delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus exploded in the U.S., taxing medical facilities to the breaking point just as it had in Europe in April and May. With its contagion 2-5 fold that of the original alpha variant, a fourth surge began and by September 3rd the new case rate and hospitalizations were greater than the peak last winter. Deaths, however, have been lower and Sept 3rd were about 1500 per day nationally; less than the 3,400 deaths per day in mid January 2021. Somewhere between 95-99% of deaths are reported to be occurring in unvaccinated individuals. In a sane world the need for vaccinating as many people as possible would be undeniable. So why are we stuck at less than 60% of America fully vaccinated? Surveys of the unvaccinated have shown many different issues in the minds of the reticent. The following are the most common, with factual defense attached.
I just haven’t gotten around to it, doesn’t seem urgent to me — and I’m young and healthy and won’t have much problem if I get it. It’s no worse than the flu. This is common among those under 50. The vast majority of Covid-19 deaths were in >70 year-olds, justifying the lack of concern in younger individuals for their personal safety. This was the attitude pushed early in the epidemic by President Trump. It has been reported that in traditional media between Jan 1 and May 26, 2020 that he or his surrogates with reference to him, down-played the pandemic in 517,000 articles (47% of 1.1 million total articles identified as Covid disinformation, 23% specifically claiming “Hoax”)1. Even this number was dwarfed by the millions of people reached through each of his Tweets. The great majority of Republicans, including Dr. Rand Paul, as well as the right wing media, labeled the alarm raised by authorities and Democrats as a hoax. Even with improvements in treatment
