While approximately 180 million U.S. residents have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, reaching population-level immunity will require convincing many more people to roll up their sleeves.
At Vox, writer German Lopez documents the six reasons U.S. residents aren’t getting vaccinated:
- Lack of access, real or perceived.
- Not viewing COVID-19 as a threat.
- Fear of vaccine side effects.
- Concerns about the vaccines’ safety.
- Lack of trust in institutions.
- Conspiracy theories.
These reasons share a common theme: A significant portion of the population does not believe the benefits of the vaccines are worth the risks. Unless they are convinced otherwise, the threat of the virus could linger for years, experts say.