Vaccine Hesitancy Poses Risk to Herd Immunity, U.S. Health Officials Say
April 25 2021 - 05:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Alexa Corse
Top health officials warned that vaccine hesitancy posed a risk
to getting enough Americans inoculated to stop the spread of
Covid-19, and they encouraged individuals to get vaccinated.
"If we're going to be able to put Covid-19 behind us, we need to
have all Americans take part in getting us to that point," Dr.
Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health,
said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said
separately that the U.S. has made good progress on vaccinations
overall but that the level of infections remains precarious at an
average of nearly 60,000 daily cases in the past week as of Friday.
"We don't want that to go up," Dr. Fauci said on ABC's "This Week
With George Stephanopoulos."
Dr. Collins highlighted pockets of the country that are falling
behind on vaccinations.
"You can look at the map and say, 'Where are vaccines lagging?'
Those are the places to worry about," Dr. Collins said. "We could
change that if we can really inspire everybody to get engaged."
Both officials offered assurances on the safety of Johnson &
Johnson's Covid-19 shot. U.S. health regulators on Friday said that
vaccinations with J&J's shot should resume, after they
temporarily paused use of the shots while investigating rare
blood-clotting cases.
Dr. Collins said those potential adverse events are very rare.
"We clearly have a situation where the benefits greatly outweigh
the risks," he said.
Dr. Collins called for shifting the conversation around
vaccinations to avoid scolding individuals. "I think maybe there's
been too much finger-wagging," he said. "I've done some of that.
I'm going to try to stop and listen, in fact, to what people's
specific questions are."
The U.S. weekly average of vaccine doses administered, which has
been generally rising since mid-December, ticked downward last
week. The number of people receiving their first dose fell from a
seven-day-average of 1.9 million April 11 to 1.4 million April
17.
Estimates have differed on how much of the population would need
to be vaccinated to stop the virus from circulating, but many
health experts are using 70% to 80% as a goal. As of Thursday, 52%
of adults in the U.S. had gotten at least one dose of a vaccine,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That
proportion ranged from 72% in New Hampshire to 39% in
Mississippi.
Dr. Fauci also said on Sunday that he expects the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention will soon issue updated guidelines
on wearing masks outside.
"Obviously the risk is really very low, particularly if you're
vaccinated," Dr. Fauci said of outdoor activities.
Current CDC guidance says, "Masks may not be necessary when you
are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live
in your household."
A CDC representative didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky previously said on
NBC's "Today" that the agency is considering changing its guidance
on wearing masks outdoors. But she cautioned that Covid-19 is still
a threat.
States have implemented varying rules around wearing masks,
which have also been at the center of political battles.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, just over half of
states had a mask mandate as of April 19. Mandates frequently
include exceptions for when individuals are outdoors and able to
distance themselves from others.
Write to Alexa Corse at alexa.corse@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2021 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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