CLARKSDALE, Miss (AP): The first hurdle was getting on the bus. Seventy-four-year-old Linda Busby hesitated outside a community center where elderly people were loaded to go get the coronavirus vaccine.
“I was scared, I’m not afraid to say it,” he said Wednesday after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine shot after the encouragement of a staff member and his brother. “It simply came to our notice then. Nobody likes to be shot. ”
Busby’s hesitation is precisely what the Biden administration and its allies in the states are fighting, one at a time, as the White House intensifies calls on the elderly to be inoculated. The vaccination rate for this top priority group reaches a plateau even as supplies have expanded.
Approximately 76% of Americans age 65 and older have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines since authorization in December, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the rate of new vaccinations among the group most vulnerable to adverse virus outcomes has been drastically reduced.
It is a growing source of concern, not only for the potential for preventable deaths and serious illness among seniors in the coming months, but also for what could bode well for America’s wider population.
“I want to make a direct appeal to our seniors and everyone who cares about them,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday, citing “incredible progress,” but said it is still not enough.
“It’s simple: old people, it’s time to get vaccinated now. Get vaccinated now. “
According to government estimates, about 12.9 million elderly Americans have not yet received their first shot. Although they were the first age group with priority for vaccines, more than 23% of those 75 or older have not yet been vaccinated.
Supply restrictions initially slowed the pace of vaccinations for the elderly, but not for months for those in high-priority age groups. Instead, officials say, the slowdown is caused by a mix of problems, from people who have difficulty finding and getting to inoculation sites. waver hesitation.
Closing the gap will require taking into account all obstacles for seniors, whether technological, transportation or personal hesitation, said Sandy Markwood, director general of the National Association of Area Agencies on the Aging, he acknowledged that vaccination rates “for older adults have been one.”
It is a potential harbinger of the challenges facing other demographic groups. All American adults will be eligible for the vaccine in the next two weeks, although the process of administering enough shots to start returning to “normalcy” will take months more. Many states, while opening their doors to eligibility, continue to maintain priority vaccination systems or dedicated distribution channels to keep seniors who want the vaccine at the helm of the line.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has predicted that between 75% and 85% of the population should be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity” and end the outbreak in the United States.
This is one of the reasons why the White House and states have decided to intensify assistance programs for the elderly and public education campaigns.
Markwood credited the administration’s $ 1.9 trillion rescue plan to provide the funding needed “to get out there and make this action more intensive, sometimes individualized” with seniors, saying, “It’s the last mile, the last group that needs the extra support, that will mean a little more outreach and time. “
There is even more help along the way.
Starting next week, the administration is launching a $ 100 million effort to fund community organizations that provide “high-intensity” support to at-risk seniors and people with disabilities through the Department of Health and Human Services. This includes assistance with booking appointments, traveling to vaccination sites, and other support during the vaccination process.
There are already similar programs at the state level.
In Clarksdale, Mississippi, the state organized its first mobile home vaccinations for older adults on Wednesday. It was there that a bus caught Busby in front of a daycare center and a community center located next to a low-income housing complex for the elderly.
While Busby was wrong, a staff member encouraged her to join the group while waiting to board. She later said the main motivating factor in getting the prey was the support of her brother, who called her to encourage her to get vaccinated.
“I’ll call him as soon as I get home and let him know I did,” he said, as he got back on the bus back to the community center.
In fact, older people have fewer doubts than many. According to an AP-NORC poll in late March, 11% of Americans age 65 and older say they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated. It compares to 25% of all adults.
The White House has repeatedly pointed to family members and community leaders as the best validators to overcome the hesitation. It is also moving to create more vaccination sites closer to homes, recognizing that access concerns cover demographic groups. On Wednesday, the White House announced that all of the more than 1,400 federally qualified community health centers will be able to begin administering vaccines. It also aims to expand mobile vaccine clinics.
A disproportionate number of unvaccinated seniors come from Latino or black communities, or people without easy access to health care, said Kathleen Cameron, senior director of the National Aging Center for Healthy Aging, which reflects the disparities of the general population. And about 6% of seniors go home.
“These are the hardest to reach people, and these are the ones we have to work hardest to get to, either to take them to the vaccination centers or to bring them the vaccines,” he said.
Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center, Inc., in Clarksdale, said one of the main aids (but sometimes barriers) for vaccinating older adults is family members. Some encourage their relatives, helping them with trips to clinics and making sure they get their shots.
But in many cases, younger family members are misinformed about the vaccine and advise against older relatives taking it.. Other than that, older adults may find it harder to access because they are not smart on social media and live alone.
“They’re trapped in the house and they’re scared,” Jones-Taylor said. “We have to overcome fear.”
According to the CDC, the elderly, depending on their age, are 1,300 to 8,700 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than young people ages 5 to 17, and account for more than 80% of the 559,000 deaths in the U.S. due to the virus.
An important help in Mississippi, especially among older adults, is the encouragement of pastors and church communities, Jones-Taylor said.
“It’s paramount,” he said. “That’s who they listen to.”
Julia Ford, 71, spends most of her days at the Rev. SLA Jones Activity Center. He said his faith was an important motivating factor for the vaccine.
“I wasn’t sure what I would do: ‘Will I get it or not?’ I spoke to the Lord to give me an understanding of it, “said Ford, whose brother died of the virus.” I thought of the verse, ‘Everything that was done was done by him.’ Nothing was done that he did not do. He made the virus and made the antidote. ”
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Miller reported from Washington.