Currently, only 5% of doctors in the U.S. are Black. Some medical schools are reporting as much as a 43% increase in African American applicants since the pandemic began.
Study by Boston University shows personal stories more effective than facts in countering anti-vaxxers
“Among people who are vaccine hesitant, trust for their healthcare professionals, their doctors and nurses, is much, much higher than for the government, the pharmaceutical companies.”
A national survey found that 15% of health care workers who had been offered the vaccine said no, with nursing home personnel more likely to refuse than hospital staffers.
Greater divergence in attitudes, growing reticence among minorities
Even as manufacturers reported extraordinary efficacy results for the first COVID-19 vaccine candidates, a nationwide survey by CVS Health (a PCC Executive Member) found significant hesitancy to getting vaccinated among respondents. Our initial survey also showed significant variation in attitudes among different demographic, racial, and ethnic groups.
Check back regularly for the latest survey results and updates.
For data from the previous survey, see Round 24 Results.
The Primary Care Collaborative is partnering with the Larry A. Green Center to regularly survey primary care clinicians and patients to better understand the impact of COVID-19 in real time.
Here's what changed my mind. Let’s normalize hesitancy to take a new vaccine. Instead of judgment, we need to empower trusted messengers to answer community questions and dispel myths.
As an emergency medicine physician with regular exposure to Covid-19 patients, I knew I would be prioritized for vaccination. However, for many months, I was decidedly and definitely against being among the first to get the shot. Instead, I planned to wait and see how others did with the vaccine. I suppose I am wary of the very system to which I have dedicated nearly two decades of my career...
Here is what helped change my mind.
Story Date:
January 22, 2021
News Author:
By Dr. Eugenia South, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Black Americans have been catching the coronavirus, getting severely ill and dying from it, at a rate higher than other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. Black Americans are also less likely to want to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to polls. A survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation last month found that around 35% of Black adults are not planning to get COVID-19 vaccines.
Doctors’ offices are overflowing with inquiries from patients who hope to get the vaccine, even though most physicians do not have doses to offer. Overwhelmed with all the requests, staff members in some private medical offices are sending out emails and putting up posters in their offices and notes on their websites making it clear that they cannot provide the shot.
States are rushing to administer the COVID-19 vaccines as fast as possible, and some states have been more successful than others.
North Dakota has one of the best vaccination rates in the country, according to data from the CDC. The state had administered 73.76 percent of the vaccines it had received as of Jan. 12. West Virginia and Connecticut rank second and third, at 64.19 percent and 60.37 percent, respectively. South Dakota comes in at fourth, administering 58.32 percent of distributed vaccines.
Story Date:
January 13, 2021
News Author:
Maia Anderson, Mackenzie Bean and Gabrielle Masson
The vaccine rollout in the United States is progressing — albeit not as quickly as anyone would like. But there isn’t a single “vaccine rollout” — instead responsibility for distributing the vaccines has been delegated to states, and some states are getting shots into arms faster than others. Connecticut is one of those states.
