Staff Contact: Mat Reidhead or Jackie Gatz
The opening of COVID-19 vaccines to all Missourians ages 16 and older on April 9 coincided with 80,471 doses reaching the arms of Missourians. This was the highest daily number of vaccines administered in the state since the mass vaccination campaign began four months earlier. During the first partial week of universal eligibility, an average of 52,267 doses were administered each day in Missouri. The following week, and the first full week of the state’s Phase 3 activation, the average daily number of doses administered was 35,845 — a one-week 31% decline in demand. Anemic demand for vaccines is being noted in national debates, with some experts speculating that remnants of pent-up demand will be exhausted in the U.S. by early May. The problem is that the current demand for vaccines is not equivalent to rates of coverage thought to be needed to induce herd immunity. By Friday, May 7, current linear trends suggest that roughly one-quarter of Missourians will have completed the vaccine series, while 58% will have protection from the virus derived from either vaccination or from a previous infection — far below the 65% to 85% coverage needed to prevent community spread of COVID-19.
New polling data from MHA and American Viewpoint provides insight into incredibly finite sources of vaccine hesitancy among adults in Missouri. Across all respondents, 11% planned to become vaccinated while 28% reported that they did not want a COVID-19 vaccine, mathematically precluding the achievement of middle and upper estimates of coverage needed for herd immunity. Disaggregating the data by characteristics of the respondents reveals that vaccine hesitancy is highest among the uninsured, individuals with very conservative political views, white evangelicals, and Black or African Americans. The polling also was designed to capture information on which messages resonate most with different segments of the population to assist policymakers and public health officials induce demand for vaccines.
- The vaccines are free of charge.
- They are extremely safe and effective in preventing serious illness and death.
- The “warp speed” of development was made possible by reducing regulatory barriers, not by taking shortcuts in scientific methods.
A return to normalcy in Missouri will require a concerted effort to improve education and trust using targeted messages designed to meet hesitant Missourians with information that is most important to them. The latest polling data from MHA sheds light on which messages resonate most effectively with different groups of hesitant Missourians.