The good news is that a majority of people in many parts of the country are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, which means normality is well within reach. The bad news, however, is that most vaccinated people aren’t ready to return to normal, even if they are immune.
A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that only 3 in 10 people who have received at least one vaccine shot believe it is safe for them to travel. Another question in the poll found that vaccinated adults are also much more likely to be worried about contracting the coronavirus. They’re still wearing masks, staying 6 feet from everyone else, and avoiding restaurants, coffee shops, churches, and other public places.
But the rest of the country is moving on without them. More than half of the adults who said they were not vaccinated agreed that traveling is now safe. Many of these adults don’t plan on getting vaccinated ever, but they’re not worried about the coronavirus at all, the poll found.
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These are the people who are unwilling to sit around and wait for health officials to declare the pandemic over. It’s hard to blame them: After more than a year of day-to-day restrictions, the lectures from officials who often don’t follow their own rules have gotten old. So, they’ve decided to stop listening — whether they’re vaccinated or not.
This divide is exactly the opposite of what immunologists would want. Those with immunity should be the ones ready to start living again, especially since multiple studies have found that the vaccine protects recipients from COVID-19 variants and prevents them from spreading the virus to others. But they’ve been told over and over again by health officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, that everyone is still at risk, and they believe him.
Health officials’ continued fearmongering is also part of the reason why many of the people who have tuned out of the pandemic aren’t interested in getting vaccinated. Why wait online for hours to secure a vaccination appointment when you’re being told it won’t change anything? If you’re still going to be told to wear masks and stay home, what’s the point?
So, it seems much of the country believes either that a vaccine is unnecessary or that it doesn’t change anything.
