“We could see substantial outbreaks for a long time,” Forman said. “It will determine whether we go back to normal in some cases.”
Past AP-NORC polls have shown more Republicans than Democrats say the government has exaggerated the threat posed by the virus. Republicans have also been more opposed to restrictions and mask-wearing.
The CDC reports that nearly 121 million American adults — or 47 per cent of the US adult population — have received at least one coronavirus shot. California, the nation’s largest blue state, is slightly ahead of that pace, at 50 per cent. The biggest red state, Texas, lags at less than 44 per cent.
How swiftly states are vaccinating doesn’t always correlate with how they vote.
Deeply red South Dakota ranks among the most successful states, with 54 per cent of its population getting injections. Among blue states, Nevada lags furthest behind the US at less than 44 per cent, followed by Oregon and Michigan at 45 per cent each.
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West Virginia, where Trump carried 66 per cent of the vote last year, became an early success story in the vaccine rollout as the first US state to cover all nursing homes. And while Republican Governor Jim Justice has remained a vaccine cheerleader, West Virginia now lags the US overall with less than 42 per cent of its population having received at least one dose.
Among those who say they won’t get vaccinated is 58-year-old Martha Brown. Sitting outside her apartment complex in Charleston, West Virginia, Brown said she’s afraid of having a bad reaction after a flu shot last year left her with cold symptoms.
“I’m OK without it,” Brown said. “I wear my mask all the time.”
Experts said it’s too soon to tell whether pausing shots of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will increase reluctance to get vaccinated. Government scientists are investigating reports of unusual blood clots in six women who received the vaccine.
If the issue gets resolved quickly and it’s deemed safe to resume Johnson & Johnson shots, there should be little impact on public confidence, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunisation Managers. She hopes the response itself assures people “the system is working.”
“It’s really important to understand that’s how closely we monitor everyone getting the vaccine” for potential problems, Hannan said. “We have systems in place to connect the dots.”
In a suburb outside Chicago, Jennifer Rockwood was getting ready to drive an hour to get her Johnson & Johnson shot on Tuesday morning when she heard about the recommended pause. She cancelled her appointment after waiting months to get the vaccine.
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“Did it give me hesitancy? Yes it did,” said Rockwood, 49. “But I was immediately back at my kitchen counter flipping the laptop open again and seeing what I could do to schedule another one.”
She booked an appointment to get the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday.
Trump has publicly urged Americans to get vaccinated but also received his own injections secretly, disclosing them only after he left office. As president, he spent much of the pandemic minimising the dangers of the virus, even after being hospitalised with COVID-19.
Some Republican governors have likewise kept their own vaccinations quiet.
In Florida, where about 44 per cent of the population has gotten at least one shot, the fact that GOP Governor Ron DeSantis got the single-dose Johnson& Johnson vaccine wasn’t revealed until a reporter asked the governor’s spokeswoman days later. Many other US governors have gotten their shots on camera or held news conferences around them in an effort to assure people the vaccines are safe.
The Democratic governor of Kentucky, a Trump-voting state, is trying to persuade more people to get jabbed by promising to lift pandemic restrictions when vaccination rates improve. About 1.6 million people in Kentucky have gotten at least one dose, a rate equal to the US overall.
Governor Andy Beshear said Monday he’ll lift capacity restrictions on restaurants, retail stores, concert halls and other businesses once Kentucky reaches 2.5 million people who have had shots.
“Every single individual’s choices can get us closer to that normalcy we’ve been looking for,” Beshear said.
AP
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April 15, 2021 at 04:08AM
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/red-state-blue-state-divide-seen-in-us-vaccination-rates-20210415-p57jbu.html
Red state-blue state divide seen in US vaccination rates - Sydney Morning Herald
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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