WASHINGTON – Vaccine resistance may end up being the last obstacle to defeating the pandemic, and a growing effort is aimed at convincing a substantial group of skeptics: the Republicans.
While efforts to combat hesitation and access to the vaccine so far have mainly focused on African Americans and Latinos, recent research suggests that the largest group of Americans hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine or totally against it are Republicans, and efforts to reach them are only in childhood.
Success in convincing skeptical conservatives may be the difference between whether or not the United States achieves collective immunity. That is why a group of Republican researchers and politicians, in addition to the White House, are already working to attract skeptics.
The messages addressed to minority groups were open and the discussion about hesitation among people of color was clear. But when it comes to targeting a party population, appearing overtly political opens up new risks and can backfire, warn those working in the efforts.
“Vaccines are our only way out. If we don’t have more than 80% of the population vaccinated before next winter, this virus will come back furiously, ”Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the administration’s Food and Drug Vaccine Advisory Committee, told NBC News. “What worries me is if 25 percent of Republicans say they will not be vaccinated, this is going to be difficult to do.”
It’s simple math.
Last week, a Monmouth University poll found that 56% of Republicans wanted to wait and see more before receiving a vaccine or said they would probably never get it, compared to just 23% of Democrats. Another poll by NPR / PBS / Marist found that 47% of Trump voters and 41% of Republicans said they would not receive the vaccine when it was made available to them. And a Kaiser Family Foundation screening survey found that the number of Republicans who refused to receive the vaccine was 28%, while the number of blacks and Hispanic Americans who thought this was 14% and 12%, respectively.
Together, these groups can leave about a quarter or more of the American population unvaccinated, while scientists now estimate that collective immunity will only be achieved when 70 to 85 percent of the population has antibodies to the virus.
“You can’t help but try to resolve this,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, medical director of the Association of State and Territory Health Officers, in an interview.
Veteran Republican Party researcher Frank Luntz is trying to do just that. He is working with the Beaumont Foundation to study and create pro-vaccine messages for conservatives
“It is probably the most important thing I will do this year because, if I do it right, it will save lives,” he said. “It will take a huge 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 eager to help the cause.
“I have almost universal support for this effort,” he said. “Everyone is waiting for march orders.”
‘Remember me
Leaders who can be most effective in conveying this message have remained silent on an issue that divides Republican Party voters, while other conservative media figures slander public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci and repeat conspiracy theories about the virus and vaccines.
Donald Trump, who has flirted with anti-vaccine activists for years, is the only living ex-president not to participate in a new vaccination incentive campaign, although his government has helped develop vaccines. On Wednesday, he released a statement asking Americans to “remember” him when they get vaccinated, but he did not offer words of encouragement to skeptical advocates of the vaccine.
Trump said that if he “weren’t president, you wouldn’t have that beautiful ‘photo’ for 5 years, at best, and you probably wouldn’t have it at all.”
Having contracted Covid-19 in October, Trump received a vaccine before leaving office in January, but kept it secret, did not allow photos or videos and did not publicly acknowledge until this month.
“Now we have to undo a year of messages from Trump about how this (pandemic) was not really a big deal,” said Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist and president and CEO of the Beaumont Foundation, in an interview.
Speaking at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump encouraged “everyone will try”. A Trump representative did not respond to a request for comment on what else he might be willing to do.
Health experts and other leaders said the footage of Trump getting the injection could be particularly beneficial. And as president whose administration oversaw the development of vaccines, they say, he has an important role in promoting it.
“I think President Trump can certainly, at this point, continue to encourage people, especially as someone who has had Covid-19, to get vaccinated,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, a doctor, said in an interview.
‘Some people are simply not going to be vaccinated’
Skepticism is the result of several factors – from the anti-vaccine movement gaining energy as a result of a pandemic blowback, a conservative media ecosystem that has elevated those views, Trump’s minimization of the seriousness of the crisis, the federal government’s deep distrust, concerns about the speed with which vaccines were developed and messages from the scientific community that sound like getting the vaccine will not trigger a greater return to normality in the immediate future.
“When scientists are out there saying ‘even if you get vaccinated, you can’t do it or don’t expect to do it until 2022’, you are actively telling people that getting vaccinated doesn’t matter,” said GOP strategist Matt Gorman said. “The message is simple: Do you want to get back to normal life? Get a vaccine as soon as possible. … It’s really that simple.”
Miller-Meeks is trying to allay people’s concerns by describing his own experience after receiving a vaccine last month.
“I understand that people are concerned and concerned about side effects,” she said. “I think it is important to examine what science is and also to assure people that there have been no short safety steps in the development of this vaccine.”
On Friday, she visited a vaccine production facility and even managed some photos with a camera, a video she posted on her Twitter account.
Today I visited a vaccination site at the workplace in @JBSCareers in Ottumwa.
This is a collaboration between Wapello Public Health and JBS to manage the @JNJNews vaccine to employees.
I managed to administer some vaccines and I can say that they are safe and effective. # IA02 pic.twitter.com/WXXlwGTuFM
– Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (@RepMMM) March 12, 2021
Groups like the Ad Council, which recently launched a half billion dollar campaign to promote vaccines, are planning to partner with religious leaders, country music stars, athletes and other influential figures in conservative and rural areas.
“It is very important that the message and the messenger are appropriate for the public,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who added that it is important that the message does not look at all partisan. .
The Biden government is well aware of the risk of appearing partisan, an official told NBC News, and believes that better access in rural areas will go a long way towards accepting the vaccine.
The government has conversations with conservative, evangelical and rural leaders. And, in addition to running ads in the conservative media, the director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network and The 700 Club, and on White House Covid-19 consultant Andy Slavitt appeared on the show by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
The work may need to be done by those in the Republican Party with more ambition for the future. Potential presidential candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. And Ted Cruz, R-Texas, were vaccinated.
“Senator Cruz received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and encourages people to do the same,” said spokeswoman Jessica Skaggs. “If anyone has doubts, the senator recommends that they consult the doctor”.
Republican govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota are overseeing vaccine distribution efforts. Noem state is the country’s fourth largest number of shots fired per capita, according to an NBC News tracker.
But all endorsements – even one from Trump himself – cannot be convincing.
“They like to say that there is a cult to President Trump,” said Don Thrasher, president of the Republican Party of Nelson County in Kentucky, adding that he believes that about two-thirds of Kentucky Republicans “will not get a vaccine, the vaccine that we all know that President Trump was trying to be accelerated and pushed. ”
“If we’re all just blind followers, why aren’t we all just … lining up to get the vaccine?” He said.
Public health leaders can only wait.
They say that the best weapon to combat this restriction is time. As more and more people are vaccinated, comfort levels among skeptics increase, although many never change.
“I think we have to resign ourselves to the fact that some people are not going to be convinced. Some people are simply not going to be vaccinated, ”said a former senior Trump administration official. “And these people are going to take chances, which is a shame, but I’m not sure if we will ever reach 100 percent, no matter what we do.”
Allan Smith reported from New York and Alex Setiz-Wald from Washington.