Why do Trump voters refuse to be vaccinated?

Photo: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

The dynamics of vaccination in the United States are closely related to the political beliefs of the population

The capital of Arkansas, Little Rock, is deeply divided over how to deal with the resurrection of Covid-19. The number of cases is increasing, hospitals are filling up, and health authorities are struggling to persuade residents in the city and across the country to be vaccinated.

The pace of vaccination in US states has become strongly correlated with politics, and Republican voters are less likely than Democrats to be vaccinated, just as they are reluctant to wear a mask or keep their distance. About 35 percent of people in Arkansas are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and only two states - Mississippi and Alabama - have lower inoculation rates than Arkansas. By contrast, 56 percent of people in New York State, a stronghold of Democrats, are fully vaccinated.

The numbers are growing fast

This condition is a huge challenge for local health authorities in the "red" countries, as they are fighting the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, which now accounts for 83% of those infected nationwide. The Public Health Agency, which last week assessed the United States as experiencing a "pandemic of the unvaccinated," found that the percentage of delta cases was even higher in places with low inoculation rates, such as Arkansas.

"I'm very worried about the next few weeks and months," said Jennifer Dilaya, medical director of immunization at the Arkansas Department of Health. "The delta variant is spreading in our country. The growth of cases is exponential. "The increase in hospitalizations is exponential."

Rising new coronavirus cases risk overloading Arkansas' health care system, which serves a population of approximately 3 million. Currently, more than 780 people are hospitalized with covidium, which is approximately a doubling in the last two weeks.

"If we continue with the same pace of hospitalization, we will double the number of patients in the hospital by the beginning of August," Dilaja said. "We will reach 1.300 patients or more, as we did last winter."

Rewards do not help either

To enter a local Little Rock bar, customers are checked their bags and physically searched by security guards at the entrance, but no one checks the temperature and the masks are gone.

Kevin Newman, a 31-year-old real estate agent who voted for Donald Trump last November, says he is not being vaccinated because he doubts the virus is serious. "If the virus was really serious, we would have to pay for the vaccine," Newman said. "Everything else is expensive, and why do they share this for free? It's suspicious. "

Similar opinions abound on social media, including Facebook, which last week was accused by President Joe Biden of "killing people" for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread uncontrollably.

Arkansas health officials are trying to reach as many people as possible by offering vaccines at malls and churches, while providing incentives such as free hunting and fishing permits. But their efforts yield poor results. Last weekend, at the North Little Rock River Summer Festival, booths offered free food and toys for those to be vaccinated. However, in one hour, only four people accepted the vaccination offer.

Ideology and health

Part of the unpreparedness is ideological, backed by the belief that civil liberties are more important than the need for vaccination. Others fear the vaccine poses a significant risk to their health after reading discrediting theories about vaccines online. Stephen Shaw, a 58-year-old Trump voter, said he had read online that vaccines could change someone's DNA. "From what I've heard, I don't think this is a real vaccine, so I'm kind of skeptical about that."

Shaw also criticizes cruise ships where vaccinated and unvaccinated people are divided into different parts of the vessel, comparing those rules with those of the Holocaust. "Well, that's the same thing that happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany."

Local nurse Barbara MacDonald, who works 60- to 80-hour shifts at her hospital every week since the pandemic began, says many of her patients are people who have refused to be vaccinated. "I'm frustrated at work, but I can not show it. "I have to talk to people and educate them."

 "Everything is politics"

Not everyone in Little Rock is against vaccinations. At Doe's Eat Place, a rustic restaurant chain known for its steaks, the walls are decorated with smiling photos of regular customers, including Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States and the governor of Arkansas. Staff must wear masks.

Clinton's popularity in Little Rock has dropped dramatically since he left office, but for the restaurant, which is located in a prominent Republican city, photos and letters from the ex-president are a source of pride. Susie, a waitress at the restaurant, says the hesitation and vaccine policy are inextricably linked in Little Rock and Arkansas. "Everything is politics… Especially rural areas are very conservative."

This is confirmed by the higher rate of hospitalizations across the country. Robert Hopkins, head of the general internal medicine department at the local clinic, said last week the facility was "completely full" and patients were forced to wait in the emergency room. Hopkins, who also chairs the National Advisory Committee on Vaccines, says the vast majority of patients are now 40 years old, compared with those in their 60s and 70s in earlier stages of the pandemic.

"Brainwashing"

The deteriorating situation in Arkansas has been replicated in "red states" across the country. Hospitals in neighboring Missouri have been forced to transfer patients to other facilities and are seeking funding for more beds and staff.

But instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated, many Republican officials are pursuing a different policy. For example, in eight states with Republican legislatures and governors, including Arkansas, schools and colleges have been banned from seeking proof of student vaccination. In April, the Republican governor of Arkansas signed a bill banning government-imposed masks and vaccines, as well as the issuance of vaccine "passports". to encourage people to get vaccinated.

"He seems to be sorry for calling for vaccinations," said Goldie Davis, a dental assistant, about the governor's behavior, adding that a 34-year-old friend had died of covidium last week. "But her whole family is Trump… It's really sad. Everyone who is not vaccinated is a supporter of Trump. "It's almost a form of brainwashing."

Taken from Financial Times

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