A new survey identifies some of the psychological barriers to taking vaccines — and how to overcome them.
The big picture: With COVID vaccine production and distribution ramping up, we're going to reach a moment when supply exceeds demand, which puts a premium on finding ways to persuade the persuadable on the value of vaccines.
Even as Texas struggled to restore electricity and water over the past week, signs of the risks posed by increasingly extreme weather to America’s aging infrastructure were cropping up across the country.
The week’s continent-spanning winter storms triggered blackouts in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states. One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline. Road networks nationwide were paralyzed and vaccination efforts in 20 states were disrupted.
All across Europe, coronavirus vaccines are in scarce supply. But in France, they are also surprisingly unwanted: Recent polls suggest just 57% of the country intends to get vaccinated, whereas in the United Kingdom, 89% wants to get a shot for COVID-19.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Sunday said it was too premature for state officials to roll back mask mandates, arguing that while coronavirus metrics were trending down, cases and deaths were still too high.
This is a precarious moment in the fight against the coronavirus in the United States. Case counts are declining. The death rate is slowing down. The country finally has a president who takes the crisis seriously. The vaccination rollout has been a bumbling mess, but the situation is improving, and it will get better still: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been activated to help administer shots, the Food and Drug Administration could authorize a third vaccine for emergency use by the end of this month, and President Biden is partnering with clinics in underserved communities to correct for early vaccination inequities.
n the meantime, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pleading with the American public to strengthen its resolve on measures to reduce viral spread, like physical distancing, mask wearing and avoidance of settings where the virus is likely to spread most easily — think a restaurant’s dining room or a large, indoor wedding. The C.D.C. is also asking state leaders not to let up on closings and restrictions just yet.
