A year after the first coronavirus vaccines became available in the United States, and after months of politicized disputes over vaccine mandates, the country’s campaign to vaccinate its population appears to have stalled, with very few people showing up for the first shots.
On average, 76,000 Americans a day received their first dose this week, the lowest since December 2020. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of total doses per day, including first doses, second doses, and boosters, is also the lowest since. This is far from the peak of the vaccination campaign in April 2021, when an average of 1.8 million Americans a day received their first shots.
It seems that people who were ready to get vaccinated have already received their shots, while those who are hesitant or resistant to vaccines now have less incentive to change their minds. The number of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are declining, and many states are waiving mask mandates.
“Talking to vaccine-resistant patients is one of the most frustrating things I have ever done as a doctor,” said Dr. Irvin Redlener, pediatrician and director of the National Disaster Preparedness Center. “The strange thing is that typical public health messages like ‘If you get Covid and don’t get vaccinated, you’re 20 times more likely to die than if you were vaccinated’ just don’t seem to work with these patients. The black-and-white scientific reality is in serious conflict with disinformation.”
As the United States approaches the two-year anniversary of the pandemic, the public mood towards it is dominated by fatigue and frustration. found a recent report. This attitude transcends party lines and crosses different age, gender, racial, ethnic and income groups. The report says the public is currently more concerned about the impact of the Omicron wave on the economy than on their personal health and lives.
“There is a lot of hope that we are done with the pandemic, which is not the case,” Dr. Redlener said, adding that the possible surge of new options and sub-options makes the urgent need for vaccination more real than ever. “I wouldn’t worry if people said, ‘We’re sick of this, we want to go back to normal, but we’re going to get vaccinated.’ Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a confluence of the illusion of normality with vaccine hesitancy.”
Rough 76 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Experts evaluate that, since only about 65 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, there is little hope for the United States of achieving herd immunity. About 80 million Americans still remain unvaccinated, putting them at increased risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.