Treating Americans who have not been vaccinated against the new crown is losing their lives in a war that could have ended. Almost all deaths caused by the new crown in the United States are now avoidable. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in recent months, more than 99% of deaths from the new crown have been Americans who have not been fully vaccinated. Six months after being vaccinated with the new crown vaccine, more than 40% of American adults have not fully vaccinated.
These huge numbers do not explain the whole problem: the vaccination situation varies widely across the United States, so the more contagious mutant virus is difficult to spread in some communities, but it can cause real damage in others. The vaccination rate in Vermont is about twice that of Mississippi, where 57% of adults are not fully vaccinated. We are increasingly living in two Americas.
Earlier this month, Aberregg, an intensive care doctor working in Utah, emailed me. He wrote: “There are a large number of unvaccinated people in the west dying.” According to him, a man “looked pretty good on arrival” but died within 36 hours. In the United States, the fourth wave of epidemics is happening. It is smaller in scale, confined to a smaller area, and easier to control, but at the same time, this wave of epidemics is particularly tragic. He recalled: “A large number of people who were not vaccinated were sent to us, but they just ignored my words. People want to make their own decisions, even if their decisions are bad. They don’t want to be forced to do things, it’s their identity. Part of it, but it does make you question whether their choice is wise. Just like riding a motorcycle without a helmet, the alarm is always too late."
Edwards works at a community hospital 20 miles southwest of the University of Utah. In early June, an intensive care unit in his hospital sometimes had no new crown patients. Now in his intensive care unit, one third of critically ill patients are new coronary patients. Edwards said that the most striking feature of this wave of epidemics is that "the patients are very young." He said, “I don’t remember treating elderly patients with COVID-19 in the past few months. I feel that they either got infected and died, or were vaccinated, and they are safe now.” Like Aberlegg, Edwards told me, It is not uncommon for a family to be infected with the new crown and be admitted to the intensive care unit. He was very direct when discussing vaccination with the family members of patients, "Now I have become very frustrated, and I will speak out to them. This is the most radical medical advice I have put forward in my career." According to his experience, family members always say Will be vaccinated as soon as possible, "I asked again a few days later, they just looked at me embarrassedly".
How can we get closer to the goal of universal vaccination? There are four main tools available to policymakers. Education is the most obvious means: Most Americans, including 40% of those who have been vaccinated, believe or are not sure about false claims about vaccines. At the same time, over 80% of people who have not been vaccinated said that they would turn to a doctor for help when deciding whether to vaccinate, so it is not too late to change their minds through conversation. Incentive is another lever. There is also the full approval of the US Food and Drug Administration: Nearly one-third of the waiters say this makes them more willing to vaccinate (currently the new crown vaccine is authorized for emergency use). Finally, there are some coercive measures. Vaccination is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for living on campus, going to work, international travel, and attending concerts. If the above methods are combined, perhaps under the fear of the Delta strain, more wait-and-see people can be vaccinated.
I thought that fear would prompt many hesitating people to get vaccinated. But fear seems to work in an unpredictable way: people who are deliberately not vaccinated may be more receptive to the existing risk of infection than the tiny but unfamiliar risk that the vaccine brings. Many people seem to believe that they will not be infected or that their condition will not be that serious. For young people, this view is naturally attractive and dangerous. Nearly 90% of Americans over the age of 65, regardless of race, income, or political beliefs, have received at least one dose of the new crown vaccine. It seems that those at greatest risk can more accurately measure risk.
