US coronavirus: Nearly a third of US adults are undecided about vaccine. Some say friends and family could sway them
“Wait and see” adults are “an important target for outreach and messaging” if the nation aims to increase the numbers of people willing to get the vaccine, but it is important to understand that their concerns vary, the foundation wrote.
Of the “wait and see” group, 61% said they’d be more likely to get vaccinated if they were persuaded that vaccinating most people would be the quickest way to return life to normal. About 51% said learning millions of people have been vaccinated safely also may push them, KFF said.
About 37% of the “wait and see” group said they would be more likely to get a vaccine if they learned a close friend or family member got vaccinated.
Vaccinations increasing in the US
Though many states have complained that their vaccine supply does not meet demand, the pace of inoculations has quickened in recent weeks.
The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington said in its latest projection that ramping up vaccinations by early summer may prevent more than 100,000 deaths.
“We expect vaccination to reach 145 million adults by June 1 and that scale-up will prevent 114,000 deaths,” IHME said in a statement.
However, spread of the B.1.1.7 virus variant first identified in the United Kingdom could slow or reduce declines in transmission, the institute said, noting that it factored expected spread of the variant into the projections.
Evidence the variant identified in the UK may cause more severe disease
An advisory group in the UK says it has more confidence that the variant first identified there is linked to more severe disease.
An analysis of more than 10 studies released Friday by the New and Emerging Respiratory Viral Threat Advisory Group bolstered the group’s January report that linked the UK variant with severe disease.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky last week made reference to increasing data that the variant leads to more deaths.
The variant is also more contagious, and that alone could led to more deaths, experts have said.
At least 981 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been found in 37 states, according to the CDC. More than a third of those are in Florida, where it’s estimated that 1 in 10 coronavirus cases may be due to the variant.
Nearly all US minors live in ‘red’ zones under CDC school guidance
About 99% of the US population under the age of 18 — nearly 73 million minors — live in what the CDC considers a “red” zone, or a county with high levels of virus transmission, according to a CNN analysis of federal data.
The CDC defines these high transmission counties as having at least 100 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people, or a test-positivity rate of at least 10% during the last seven days.
Friday’s CDC guidance on school reopenings says that middle schools and high schools in these zones should stick with virtual learning, and elementary schools in these zones should have hybrid learning or reduced attendance.
Fewer than 100,000 children in the US live in a county considered “low” or “moderate transmission” where the CDC recommends K-12 schools open for full in-person instruction. Most of those are in Hawaii or Washington.
The CNN analysis used the latest federal data on new case rates and test positivity rates, published Thursday by the US Health and Human Services Department, to determine each county’s risk threshold according to CDC guidelines.
Otherwise, the CDC’s new guidance on allowing in-person classes to resume focused on five key Covid-19 mitigation strategies.
The CDC’s guidance Friday says vaccination and testing “provide additional layers of Covid-19 prevention in schools,” but it doesn’t describe them as key strategies.
People with underlying health conditions eligible for vaccines in 11 states
People with certain comorbidities and underlying conditions are eligible to sign up for Covid-19 vaccinations in 11 states: New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Mexico, Virginia, Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, and Montana, according to a CNN analysis of public health department websites.
The exact conditions that make someone eligible, and whether paperwork is required to confirm the conditions, vary by state.
Some of the 11 states have started vaccinating these groups, while others have only begun registering them.
At least one state will soon be added to that list: California announced Friday that millions of residents “at high risk with developmental and other disabilities” and those with “serious underlying health conditions” will become eligible next month.
The plan, outlined by state health officials in a briefing Friday, will begin March 15 and will allow cancer patients, pregnant women, and other disabled individuals to join health care workers, seniors, teachers, and farmworkers in line for a vaccine.
The expansion could add as many as 6 million Californians to the priority list. It also would broaden the ages from 65 and over to ages 16 to 64 in those categories.
But California Health and Human Service Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly cautioned that the expansion is dependent on the state resolving its shortfall of vaccines.
CNN’s Ashley Ahn, Jason Hanna, Jacqueline Howard, Lauren Mascarenhas and Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.