6:00 a.m., June 14, 2021
A seal against a vaccine. This is Washington State’s latest ploy, where recreational marijuana use is permitted, to get its citizens to receive their first dose. After a dazzling success in its infancy, the vaccination campaign across the Atlantic has struggled for a month to maintain the pace. Just over 1 million doses were administered on Friday. That is three times less than during the peak of injections in April. The goal of Joe Biden, 70% of adults first vaccinated by the July 4 national holiday, may not be reached.
Certainly, the figures would make any European country green with envy: 52% of Americans (64% of adults) have already received a first dose and 43% are fully vaccinated (54% of adults). But behind these good results lie very disparate situations. If the northeastern states (Vermont, Maine or New Jersey) or those on the west coast (California, Washington) are posting record rates, a dozen others, mainly from the South, are lagging behind.
17 of the 18 least vaccinated states voted Donald Trump in November election
In Mississippi, “only” 45% of those over 18 received a first dose. Some counties are even below 20%. The situation is more or less the same in Alabama or Louisiana. In Arkansas, less than half of the 163,000 doses of Janssen received were injected. Federal health authorities are considering extending the expiration date of unused vials to avoid throwing them away.
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Epidemiologists and sociologists are lost in conjectures to explain this phenomenon. One of the explanations is geographic: rural populations living in remote areas (this is especially true for the states of Wyoming or Nebraska, in the north, also lagging behind) have less access to vaccination centers. Another is more political: 17 of the 18 least vaccinated states voted Donald Trump in the November election. The rejection of the Biden administration is reflected in a mistrust, sometimes encouraged by local elected officials, with regard to its vaccination policy. Added to this is the religious factor.
In the Bible Belt of the south of the country (“bible belt”, breeding ground for Protestant rigorism), several evangelical movements claim to be fierce anti-vaccines. Finally, this American disparity is also racial. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study released Wednesday, whites are 1.4 times more vaccinated than blacks and 1.3 times more than Hispanics. However, it is among these populations, socially more disadvantaged and presenting more co-morbidities (obesity, diabetes), that Covid-19 is wreaking havoc.
The Indian variant now represents 6% of cases detected in the United States
Faced with the slowdown, the medical authorities admit their concern not to reach the 70% of vaccinated, synonymous with collective immunity, by July 4. Worse, they no longer rule out the possibility of a fourth wave that would occur this summer. The concern is all the more acute as the variants gain ground. The Delta (Indian) now represents 6% of cases detected in the territory. Tuesday, Anthony Fauci, the American “Mr. Covid”, was alarmed by a British scenario, contaminations on the rise in the United Kingdom: “We cannot let this happen. Those who have not yet been vaccinated, please do so! “
The message seems all the more urgent as all over the country health measures are being lifted. On Friday, Chicago became the first major city to no longer impose masks and physical distancing, including in stores and public places. California will do the same as of Tuesday. New York is expected to follow very soon. Finally, this week the warnings regarding travel to some sixty countries, including France, Germany and Japan were relaxed, leaving Americans with a glimpse of the possibility of summer vacations on other continents.
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