Recent polling has shown that Americans are becoming more comfortable with the idea of getting inoculated with the COVID vaccine.
The Kaiser Family Foundation released a poll a few weeks ago that showed 71 percent of respondents in late November and early December said they would take the shots for inoculation. That number was an increase from August when 63 percent of those polled said they would be willing to get jabbed.
Rupali J. Limaye, an expert on vaccine behavior at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told The New York Times that one reason Americans may have had a change of heart was their succumbing to overall coronavirus fatigue. They want to return to their pre-outbreak lives. The report also pointed to “a barrage of feel-good media coverage” in regard to the vaccine and how it is administered, including the “rapt attention given to leading scientists and politicians when they get jabbed.”
The Times reported it spoke to several dozen individuals who were vaccinated about their experiences the next day, and the report said the reactions varied widely. Some felt completely normal while others complained of chills and brain fogs.
The report pointed out the Pfizer inoculation uses new genetic technology that has never been used before in a vaccine approved for public use. The report said doctors have noticed the vaccines are producing an increase in reactions when compared to other vaccines.
“Face Diapers”
Beyond growing faith in getting vaccinated, the Times reported that 75 percent of Americans wear masks when they leave their homes.
Demographics seem to play a role in the level of interest an individual has in getting vaccinated, the report said. It also said Blacks are the most skeptical racial group along with people between the ages of 30-49.
The Wall Street Journal reported that doctors recommend those who have already been infected with the virus should also get vaccinated because there are still so many uncertainties and scientists still “don’t know how durable natural immunity is.”
And while the CDC reports the virus’ reinfection within the first 90 days after infection is rare, they said no one knows how long natural immunity lasts.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns,” Vineet Menachery, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, told the Journal. “The biggest thing we’ll need is time.”
TOP TREND FOR 2021: “ANTI-VAX, ANTI-TAX.”
In our 15 December Trends Journal, we warned that clashes between governments demanding mass vaccinations and those opposing them will rage across much of the world.
In November, we reported that the Ad Council, the nonprofit advertising group, was planning to announce its initiative to help assuage the fears that many Americans have about taking the vaccine to help prevent the virus’ spread.
“Frankly, this is the biggest public health crisis we’ve ever faced, and we don’t have time to waste,” Lisa Sherman, the Ad Council’s chief executive said, according to The New York Times. “We’re working in advance so that once those vaccines are proven to be safe and approved by all the right people, we’re ready to go.”
Among many in Western nations, there will be strong political forces forming new political parties to counter ruling establishments that impose rules and regulations in violation of Constitutions and the Bill of Rights.
