Young Adults Are Among the Biggest Barriers to Mass Immunity in the U.S.

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Mon, 2021-06-28 18:00 — mike kraft

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As the country’s vaccination campaign slows and doses go unused, it has suddenly become clear that one of the biggest barriers to mass immunity will be persuading skeptical young adults of all backgrounds to get shots. Federal officials expressed alarm in recent days about low vaccination rates among Americans in their late teens and 20s, and have blamed them for the country’s all-but-certain failure to reach President Biden’s goal of giving 70 percent of adults at least an initial dose by July 4.

But the straightforward sales pitch for older people — a vaccine could very possibly save your life — does not always work on healthy 20-somethings who know they are less likely to face the severest outcomes of Covid.

As public officials race to find ways to entice young adults to get vaccinated, interviews across the country suggest that no single fix, no easy solution, is likely to sway these holdouts. Some are staunchly opposed. Others are merely uninterested. And still others are persuadably skeptical. But pretty much everyone who was eager for a vaccine already has one, and public health officials now face an overlapping mix of inertia, fear, busy schedules and misinformation as they try — sometimes one person at a time — to cajole Gen Z into getting a shot.

Public health experts say vaccinating young adults is essential to keeping infection numbers low and preventing new case outbreaks, especially as the more infectious Delta variant spreads in Missouri and other states.

Since vaccines became available six months ago, health departments have focused with varying degrees of success on urging groups identified as reluctant — including people living in rural communities, African American residents, conservatives — to get vaccines. But in recent days, public health officials have identified young adults as a significant challenge for a country where fewer than a million people a day are receiving a vaccine, down from an April peak of more than 3.3 million.

In a federal report released last week, just over one-third of adults ages 18 to 39 reported being vaccinated, with especially low rates among those who are Black; among people 24 or younger; and among those who had lower incomes, less education and no health insurance. ...

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