WASHINGTON – Vaccine persistence could ultimately be the last hurdle to defeat the pandemic, and an increasing effort is aimed at convincing one significant group of skeptics: Republicans.
While efforts to curb vaccine hesitation and access so far have focused mostly on African Americans and Latinos, recent polls indicate that the largest group of Americans are hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine, or that they are directly opposed to it. Republican is. only in their infancy.
Success that convinces skeptical conservatives may be the difference between the United States achieving herd immunity or not. That’s why a group of Republican pollsters and politicians, plus the White House, are already working to get the skeptics on board.
Messages aimed at minority groups were open and the discussion of hesitation among coloreds was clear. But as far as the goal of a partisan population is concerned, the disclosure of openly political new risks is likely to backfire, warn those working on the efforts.
“Vaccines are our only way out of this. If we have not vaccinated more than 80 percent of the population before next winter, this virus is going to be furious again,” said Dr. Paul Offit, member of the Food and Drug Administration. Administration’s advisory committee for vaccine, told NBC News. “What worries me is if 25 percent of Republicans say they will not be vaccinated, it’s going to be difficult.”
It’s simple math.
Last week, a poll by the University of Monmouth found that 56 percent of Republicans either wanted to wait before getting a vaccine, or that they would probably never get one, compared to just 23 percent of Democrats. Another poll by NPR / PBS / Marist found that 47 percent of Trump voters and 41 percent of Republicans said they would not get the vaccine if it was available to them. And a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the number of Republicans refusing to get the vaccine was 28 percent, while the number of black Americans and Hispanics who felt 14 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Together, the groups can leave about a quarter or more of the U.S. population unattended, while scientists now estimate that herd immunity will only be achieved if 70 to 85 percent of the population carry the antibodies of the virus.
“You can not afford not to address it,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of Civil Servants and Territorial Health Officers, said in an interview.
Veteran GOP poll Frank Luntz is trying to do just that. He works with the de Beaumont Foundation to study pro-vaccine messages aimed at conservatives
“This is probably the most important thing I will do this year, because if I do it right, it will save lives,” he said. “It’s going to take a massive effort because the opposition to a vaccine is so great. But we have no choice. We have to find out.”
And he is encouraged by the number of elected Republicans who are eager to help the cause.
“I have almost universal support for this effort,” he said. “Everyone is waiting for marches.”
‘Remember me
The leaders who can be most effective in conveying this message have largely remained silent on an issue that divides the IDP voters, while other conservative media officials such as dr. Anthony Fauci and the recurring conspiracy theories about the virus. and the vaccines.
Donald Trump, who has been whispering anti-vaccine activists for years, is the only living former president who has not taken part in a new campaign to encourage vaccinations, although his government has helped develop the vaccines. On Wednesday, he issued a statement asking Americans to “remember” him when they are vaccinated, but did not offer words of encouragement to supporters who are vaccine-skeptical.
Trump claims that if he “was not president, you would not get such a beautiful ‘shot’ at best, and probably not at all. ‘
After contracting Covid-19 in October, Trump received a vaccination before leaving office in January, but kept it secret, did not allow photos or videos and only publicly acknowledged it.
“We now have to undo a year of Trump messages about how this (pandemic) really wasn’t a big deal,” said Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist and president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, in ‘ said an interview.
Trump “encouraged” everyone to shoot during last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference. A Trump representative has not responded to a request for comment on what he would still be willing to do.
Health experts and other leaders have said that Trump’s footage can be particularly beneficial. And since the president whose administration oversees the development of the vaccines, he has an important role to play in promoting them.
“I think President Trump can certainly continue to encourage people at this time, especially as someone who has had Covid-19, to be vaccinated,” Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a R-Iowa physician, said in a statement. maintenance.
“Some people are just not going to be vaccinated”
The skepticism is due to multiple factors – from the anti-vaccine movement gaining energy as a result of pandemic setbacks, a conservative media ecosystem that has raised these views, Trump’s depression of the severity of the crisis, deep – rooted mistrust of the federal the government, concerns about how quickly the vaccines were developed, and the messages from the scientific community that sound like the vaccine will not recover in the immediate future.
“If scientists are there and say ‘even if you are vaccinated, then you can not do it or you do not expect it until 2022’, then you are actively telling people that vaccination does not matter,” said GOP strategist Matt Gorman said. “The message is simple: Do you want to return to normal life? Get a vaccine as soon as possible … It’s really that simple.”
Miller-Meeks is trying to calm people’s worries by describing her own experience after she was vaccinated last month.
“I understand that people are concerned and worried about side effects,” she said. “I think it’s important to go through what the science is, and also to reassure people that there have been no short steps in the development of this vaccine.”
On Friday, she toured a vaccine production factory and even fired a few shots at the camera, a video she posted on her Twitter account.
I visited a vaccination site at work today @JBSCareers in Ottumwa.
It is a collaboration between Wapello Public Health and JBS to @JNJNuus vaccine to employees.
I was able to administer some vaccines and can say that it is safe and effective. # IA02 pic.twitter.com/WXXlwGTuFM
– Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (@RepMMM) 12 March 2021
Groups like the Ad Council, which recently launched a half-billion-dollar campaign to promote vaccines, plan to partner with faith leaders, country music stars, athletes and other figures influential in conservative and rural areas.
“It’s really important that the message and the messenger are appropriate for the audience,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is important that the messages do not look biased at all.
The Biden administration is well aware of the risk of being biased, an official told NBC News and believes that better access in rural areas will go a long way towards accepting vaccine.
The administration holds ongoing talks with Conservative, Evangelical and rural leaders. And in addition to running ads in conservative media, Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, appears on the Christian Broadcasting Network and The 700 Club, and Andy Slavitt, White House Covid-19 adviser. appeared in the conservative radio presenter Hugh Hewitt’s program.
The work should possibly be done by those in the Republican Party with the greatest ambition for the future. Potential presidential candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., And Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have been vaccinated.
“Sen. Cruz has received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and is encouraging people to do the same,” said spokeswoman Jessica Skaggs. “If anyone has problems, the senator recommends that people go consult their doctor.”
Republican governors. Ron DeSantis, of Florida, and Kristi Noem, of South Dakota, oversee the distribution of vaccines. According to an NBC News detective, Noem’s state is fourth in the country in shots fired per capita.
But all the endorsements – even one from Trump himself – can do just as much convincingly.
“They like to say that there is a cult of President Trump,” said Don Thrasher, president of Kentucky’s Nelson County GOP, adding that he believes about two-thirds of Kentucky Republicans’ not a vaccine will not get, the vaccine we all know was President Trump. try to be accelerated and pushed. ”
“If we’re all just blind followers, why do we not just stand … to go in to get the vaccine?” He said.
Public health leaders can only hope.
They say the best weapon to combat this limitation is time. As more and more people are vaccinated, the convenience of skeptics will increase, though many will never move.
“I think we should rest assured that some people are not going to be convinced. “Some people are just not going to be vaccinated,” said a former senior Trump official. “And those people will take their own chances, which is a shame, but I’m just not sure we can ever get to 100 percent, no matter what we do.”
Allan Smith reports from New York and Alex Setiz-Wald from Washington.