A majority of voters support President Biden’s plan to send vaccine promoters door to door but nearly two-thirds of Republicans oppose the plan, underscoring a partisan divide over federal efforts to push the shots as the dreaded delta variant takes hold.
Scientists fear the variant first detected in India will produce a red state-blue state divide in which case counts rise generally but rural, conservative areas with low vaccination rates see higher rates of hospitalization and death.
“What we will likely see is that certain parts of the country will have COVID-19 controlled to a level in which it is more like ordinary respiratory viruses and then other parts where, because vaccination rates are so low, it is still a major disruptive force,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday found that 54% of voters support Mr. Biden’s push to promote the shots in neighborhoods that have fallen behind on vaccination, while 39% oppose it. Yet pollsters said 65% of Republicans oppose the plan compared to 8 in 10 Democrats who support it.
The divide reflects a debate that erupted after President Biden announced last week he would push for workplace vaccine clinics and send local partners into neighborhoods to increase uptake.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster directed his team to prevent door-knocking and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he feared the door-knockers would include federal agents.
The governors say they support vaccination but not intrusive tactics, prompting a rebuke from the White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said the effort involves community leaders and ignorance around the vaccines is “literally killing people.”
Slightly less than half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and there have been alarming outbreaks driven by the delta variant, which spreads easily even in brief encounters between people.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found relatively similar vaccine uptake in April between counties that voted for Mr. Biden versus those who backed Mr. Trump. The gap has widened since then, with roughly 47% of residents in Biden counties vaccinated as of July 6, versus 35% in Trump ones.
Frank Luntz, a political consultant and pollster, finds conservative skepticism of the vaccine frustrating given the plaudits former President Donald Trump received for shepherding their speedy development.
“The people who are telling you not to get vaccinated now were praising Donald Trump 8 months ago for getting the vaccine to the public in record time,” he tweeted.
Daily U.S. case counts remain comparatively low but are creeping up again due to delta-driven outbreaks across the South and Midwest.
Officials in New Orleans said their vaccination rates are better than others in Louisiana but the delta strain is encroaching on the city from parishes with lower vaccination rates.
“Delta is here. Delta is dangerous and Delta is killing people. This should scare the hell out of you,” city spokesman Beau Tidwell said. “The message from the mayor is that this is serious and you should get your shot.”
They fear a replay of what’s unfolding in southwestern Missouri, where one major hospital needed to borrow ventilators from other parts of the state. The Birthplace of Route 66 festival in Springfield was canceled this summer over COVID-19 concerns.
“We hope to be back in 2022,” organizers said.
Fears about the delta strain aren’t limited to red parts of America.
The variant is spreading around the world, bedeviling European leaders and global health officials who are trying to get vaccine campaigns off the ground in poorer places.
“The delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace — present in over 100 countries — and driving a new spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said in urging a coordinated response. “This is no time for a lull.”
The variant is being blamed for rising case counts in New York City, though officials are hopeful it won’t spark a repeat of last year’s crisis because 64% of city adults are fully vaccinated.
Parts of Miami have reported an uptick in hospitalizations among younger adults who’ve failed to get vaccinated.
Officials are also worried about children. Those younger than 12 aren’t eligible for the shots yet, so federal and state officials want more adults and teens to get the shots to reduce transmission and protect them from aggressive strains.
Children tend to be spared the worst from COVID-19 but there is some risk.
“Younger people are getting infected with a delta variant because that is where the largest swath of the unvaccinated are,” Dr. Adalja said. “Unvaccinated children are going to get infected with whatever is circulating.”
Actress and pop star Olivia Rodrigo visited the White House on Wednesday to encourage young Americans to get vaccinated.
Miss Rodrigo said she was “beyond honored and humbled” to make promotional videos with President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.
The White House hopes Miss Rodrigo will use her profile and massive social media following to move the needle among young people.
“I’m in awe of the work President Biden and Dr. Fauci have done and was happy to help lend my support to this important initiative,” she told reporters.
Some people say they did the right thing but still got sick.
Former TV host Catt Sadler said she got vaccinated but still caught COVID-19 after caring for someone with the virus.
In an Instagram post, Ms. Sadler said vaccines will reduce the risk of hospitalization and death but she wants people to understand the risk of a “breakthrough infection” in the face of the delta variant.
The vaccines are considered highly effective but imperfect.
“I’m telling you this so that you understand that the pandemic is very much NOT over,” she wrote. “Delta is relentless and highly contagious and grabbed ahold of me even after getting vaccinated.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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