Religious Exemptions To Vaccines: Who Wants Them And What’s Legal
A faith-based approach could also be an effective way to get more children vaccinated.
There is some evidence that faith-based approaches could encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. Just 16% of parents overall who are vaccine-hesitant or who refuse to get their kids vaccinated say they would be influenced by a faith-based approach and that number jumps up to 29% for parents who are Christians of color.
The Mainstream News Media
News media, like politicians, have suffered greatly in terms of public trust in recent years. A big part of that erosion has been the result of coordinated attacks from Republican officials and conservative voices from Nixon and Goldwater to Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Carlson, and Trump. And to be fair to the mainstream outlets, much of that criticism was either political strategy or a way to fight back against changing cultural dynamics, especially in the years following the civil rights movement.
That being said mainstream news media has also been truly terrible for a long time, and in many ways.
Traditional news outlets have historically and continue to provide cover for foreign policy atrocities from Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general to Central America in the 70s and 80s to Iraq more recently. I really want to emphasize this point because not only because of the countless lives lost due to aggressive and unnecessary U.S. foreign policy interventions, but also because its quite possible that we wouldnt still be losing American lives in multi-decade wars in Iraq and Afghanistan if these outlets were more adversarial. Noam Chomsky and Edward Hermanns Manufacturing Consent is a great place to start if you want to learn about the medias role in U.S. foreign policy.
Thats why, for a lot of people, when Trump started identifying these outlets as fake news, it stuck because its kind of true.
Why Some People Are Choosing Not To Get The Covid
As of publication, roughly 47 percent or more than 157 million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which more than 123 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But, not everyone is rushing to the front of the vaccine line. In fact, some 30 million American adults are hesitant about receiving the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest data collection period from the U.S. Census Bureau. And while a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that, as of May 11, fewer Americans are reluctant to get immunized against the virus than recorded earlier this year, those who remain hesitant cite worry about the COVID-19 vaccine side effects and distrust of the government or the vaccine as their biggest reasons for the reluctance.
Ahead, everyday women explain why they’re choosing not to get the vaccine despite the overarching sentiment from infectious disease experts, scientists, and global health agencies that inoculation is the best way to win in the fight against COVID-19 globally.
Read Also: How Much Does Tdap Cost At Cvs
Greed And Glut: How Rich Countries Are Helping Sustain Covid In Africa
Africa will become known as the continent of COVID-19 not because of vaccine hesitancy but because of the inequity, greed and inaction of pharmaceutical companies and political leaders of the North.
Far from Bourlas self-serving narrative, Pfizer has not materially contributed to vaccine equity. Instead, for the past year both Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have refused to share vaccine know-how with other manufacturers around the world.
And not by coincidence, the German government publicly declared their opposition to a proposal, initially raised by the South African and Indian governments in October 2020, that the World Trade Organisation waive certain conditions of intellectual property rights with regard to COVID technologies.
So far, Pfizer has also not been willing to partner with the WHOs mRNA hubs being set up around the world including South Africa and which could help to supply much-needed additional vaccine doses rapidly.
Rather, the company alone decides which countries it wishes to supply, with how much, by when and at what price all factors that contribute to a sizeable and lucrative revenue stream for Bourla and his shareholders. But contracts are not transparent and reports of disconcerting indemnity terms and pricing negotiations in supplying vaccines have again highlighted concerns about contractual agreements contributing to vaccine nationalism.
Orvis School Of Nursing Dean Debera Thomas And School Of Public Health Dean Muge Akpinar
Dean Debera Thomas, left, and Dean Muge Akpinar-Elci, right, standing outside the Pennington Health Sciences Building
Dean Debera Thomas, left, and Dean Muge Akpinar-Elci, right, standing outside the Pennington Health Sciences Building
In our last article we discussed breakthrough infections, which occur when someone who has been vaccinated gets COVID-19. Breakthrough infections lead a lot of people to ask the question, why should I get vaccinated if I can still get COVID-19?
The answer is because if youre vaccinated you will not get as seriously sick and are less likely to die.
In addition, you will help to stop this pandemic. The more people who are infected in a population the higher the prevalence level of the virus and increased risk for everyone. Unvaccinated individuals contribute to the number of people who can possibly get sick and provide a host for COVID-19 to replicate and create more variants. The more the virus spreads, the greater risk of mutation that could possibly be more dangerous than what weve seen so far. While vaccinated people can get COVID -19 and can spread it to others, youre less likely to get COVID-19 if youre vaccinated, and it spreads less easily in vaccinated people.
Related Links
At this moment, we dont clearly know the long-term affects of COVID-19. But we have already seen some serious side effects for individuals that have had it, including
To get vaccinated:
Read Also: Cheapest Shingles Shot
The Real Reason Why So Many People Wont Get Vaccinated
There are lots of people who arent going to get the COVID-19 vaccine. According to a Carnegie Mellon report released in March 2021, about 23% of respondents are still hesitant to be vaccinated against coronavirus. The rate is highest among African Americans, people of color in general, and young people. Concern about side effects was the top reason cited in the report. Another Kaiser study identified evangelicals, Republicans, and those without college degrees to be less likely to be vaccinated.
The affirmative scientific case in favor of getting vaccinated is clear. And for what its worth I am in the get vaccinated camp. I was working as a dialysis nurse in Chicago hospitals when the vaccine became available, so I was fully vaccinated by the end of January. On behalf of all healthcare workers who are sick of wearing N95s and plastic gowns that double as sweat suits, please get vaccinated.
The problem of misinformation about the vaccine and vaccine-related deaths is real and bears some responsibility for people choosing to skip the vaccine. Its also true that the larger anti-vax movement has been heavily influenced by social media.
However, blaming misinformation misses a very important question that needs to be considered:
The biggest problem facing the U.S. vaccination effort isnt the misinformation nor the strength of the arguments in favor of vaccination. Its the lack of trust in the institutions that are presenting the case.
Opinion: Red States Are Now Paying People Not To Get Vaccinated
Once upon a time, states debated whether to pay people to get vaccinated. Now, some red states are paying people not to get vaccinated, by cutting checks to workers who quit or are fired because they refuse covid-19 shots.
All spring and summer, Republicans cried bloody murder about how too-generous unemployment benefits were supposedly discouraging Americans from returning to work. Expanded jobless benefits were creating welfare queens, they argued, and driving labor shortages and hurting small businesses.
As I wroteat the time, it seemed reasonable to believe that at least for some workers, jobless benefits were a factor weighed when deciding whether to accept or reject available jobs. But lots of other factors mattered, too including child-care availability, fear of getting ill, transit problems, changing family priorities, the wages offered and burnout.
Ultimately, those other factors seemed to matter more. Expanded pandemic benefits ended, first in a few GOP-controlled states and eventually nationwide . Their lapse appeared to have little impact on job growth.
That didnt stop someRepublicanpoliticians from continuing to blame labor shortages on unemployment benefits even after the offending federal programs had expired nationwide. Their talking point long outlasted its plausible relevance.
Now, Republicans are expanding these laziness-inducing benefits once again but only for workers who refuse shots.
Follow
So why are Republicans doing it?
You May Like: Cost Of Shingles Vaccine At Cvs
More Trends: Impact Of Politics Financial Struggles
New York University researchers surveyed 3,000 people in April, when vaccines had become available. They found that politics and personal finances impacted the decision to get vaccinated. Their study is due to be published as a preprint and is not yet peer-reviewed.
“We found Democrats far and away the most likely to be vaccinated,” says Rachael Piltch-Loeb, PhD, an associate research scientist at the New York University School of Global Public Health.
At the time of the survey, about half of the respondents had already been vaccinated, says Piltch-Loeb, who is also a public health preparedness fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Those who had financial hardship during the pandemic, due to job loss or other issues, ”were more likely to be vaccine refusers,” Piltch-Loeb says. Those on Medicaid were less llikely to be vaccinated than people with private insurance, she says, perhaps because they thought there was a fee for the vaccine and they couldn’t afford it.
Those who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 fell into two camps: either eager to take the vaccine or refusing it. But having someone they knew die of COVID-19 reduced hesitancy. “If individuals knew someone who died of COVID, they were far more likely to already be vaccinated ,” she says.
How Many People Are Vaccinated
More than 204 million people in the US are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. That’s about 61% of the population, with a further 12% partially vaccinated.
On top of this, about 62 million people have been given a booster jab.
However, in some US states, such as the north-western states of Wyoming and Idaho, fewer than 50% of the population are fully vaccinated.
In the southern states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, upwards of half of their populations are also not fully vaccinated.
Polling suggests resistance to vaccinations is divided down political lines, and the least vaccinated states have consistently voted Republican in recent presidential elections.
The unvaccinated population is now disproportionately made up of those who identify as Republican – 60% compared with 17% who identify as Democrats, according to data collected by the Kaiser Family Foundation , a US-based health research group.
Recommended Reading: Cvs Tdap Booster
Reason : A Variety Of Conspiracy Theories
At least half the people who say they wont get vaccinated believe at least one conspiracy theory about the Covid-19 vaccines or vaccines in general, according to a YouGov poll from May.
The best hope for refuting such disinformation, based on political science research, is for public officials and the media to stop spreading it and, when it does pop up, correct it. But the spread of disinformation is a much thornier problem that society at large is still coming to terms with as the internet and social media have made it so easy for people to proliferate lies and myths and it will take a while to really get a handle on this.
Thankfully, the conspiracy theorists are still a minority of Americans overall.
Covid Vaccine Side Effects Are Temporary And Do Not Mean Youre Sick
The vaccines do not contain live coronavirus, and you cannot and will not get COVID-19 from getting vaccinated. After the shots, you might experience a sore arm, a mild fever or body aches, but this doesnt mean you have COVID-19. These symptoms, if they happen at all, are temporary, usually lasting only a day or two. They signal a natural response as your bodys immune system learns to recognize and fight the coronavirus. On the other hand, getting COVID-19 can make you seriously ill, with symptoms that linger for months or even longer. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccine safety.
You May Like: Cvs Tdap Vaccine Schedule
Reason : Lack Of Trust In Institutions
For some of the hesitant, the concerns may not be about Covid-19 and the vaccines but the institutions that surround both. They may not trust the government agencies or companies that helped develop the vaccines. Or they may not trust the health care system in general.
These feelings could be newly developed. Over the past year, especially, polling has found much of the public, but especially Trump voters, lost trust in major government institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People in this category are less likely to listen to the agency and other government officials calls to get vaccinated.
Some views could be more entrenched. Black Americans, for example, report lower levels of trust in the health care system a result of outright abuses, like the Tuskegee study , but also day-to-day discrimination they experience when they go to doctors and hospitals. This distrust can then extend to vaccines.
Restoring trust in institutions is a long-term, difficult job. But in the meantime, approaches like incentives and education campaigns can at least get people to think that, regardless of what these organizations are doing, its in their interest to get vaccinated.
If Youve Already Had Covid
A indicates that if you had COVID-19 before and are not vaccinated, your risk of getting reinfected is more than two times higher than for those who were infected and got vaccinated.
While evidence suggests there is some level of immunity for those who previously had COVID, it is not known how long you are protected from getting COVID-19 again. Plus, the level of immunity provided by the vaccines after having COVID-19 is higher than the level of immunity for those who had COVID but were not subsequently vaccinated.
Getting vaccinated provides greater protection to others since the vaccine helps reduce the spread of COVID-19.
You May Like: Tdap Booster Cvs
Against: There Will Be Resistance
Here in London, in July anti-lockdown demonstrators took to the streets to demonstrate against a lockdown that had been lifted just hours earlier.
The point is, whatever a government does, it will face opposition. Covid restrictions in particular have drawn protests around the world and mandatory vaccinations are a step beyond, say, a mask mandate.
“When it comes to vaccines, people do think very differently,” says Vageesh Jain, a public health doctor at the Institute for Global Health at University College London.
“Anything that’s administered to them in their body, it’s not going to be thought of in the same way, even though academics and others may think theoretically it’s just a restriction, people do have this kind of emotive response.”
While there will always be some who will never be persuaded to get vaccinated, it is possible to be sceptical about vaccinations without being an anti-vaxxer.
An Austrian study distinguished between the 14.5% of the country’s 9m population who were unprepared to get vaccinated and the 9% who were simply hesitant.
Governments must weigh whether the benefits outweigh the backlash. But as Cathleen Powell, a law professor at the University of Cape Town, argues, there is a legal case to be made.
United Says 3000 Employees Have Covid But Its Vaccine Mandate Has Saved Lives
Legault said the amount of the penalty hasn’t been decided, but will be “significant.” More details are to be released at a later date.
He said about 10% of adults in Quebec are unvaccinated, but they represent about 50% of intensive care patients.
“Those who refuse to get their first doses in the coming weeks will have to pay a new health contribution,” Legault said.
“The majority are asking that there be consequences. … It’s a question of fairness for the 90% of the population that have made some sacrifices. We owe them.”
Also Check: Where To Get Tdap Vaccine Cvs
Clear Partisan Divide In Unvaccinated
The majority of Republican and Republican-leaning people say they have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. But KFF found Republicans still make up a disproportionate number of those who aren’t getting vaccinated — a number that has steadily increased. Additionally, nearly four-in-ten Republicans say they likely or definitely won’t get a booster.
It’s something the foundation said will hinder vaccine efforts going forward.
“With most vaccinated Republicans saying theyre not worried about getting sick and 38% of fully vaccinated Republicans saying they do not plan to get a booster shot when eligible, it seems likely that partisanship will continue to play a role in the vaccine rollout beyond the initial effort to vaccinate the adult population,” KFF said.
Of those who were unvaccinated in April, 42% were Republicans, 36% were Democrats and 16% were independents. In July, it was 51% Republican, 23% Democrat and 20% independent. By October, the makeup was 60% Republican, 17% Democrat and 17% independent.
Unvaccinated Republicans tend to be younger and less educated, KFF said. Sixty-one percent of unvaccinated Republicans were age 18-50 and 79% had a high school education or less or had some college experience.
But vaccinated and unvaccinated shared similar attitudes about COVID-19 and vaccines regardless of whether they got the jab.