Why do so few in Southern California get updated COVID vaccinations?

People check in to get their COVID-19 vaccine at UCI Health Family Health Center in Anaheim, CA in April 2021. The buds are blooming, the grass is green, the orange and palm trees sway — and those spring COVID vaccines are rolling out yet again.

The most at-risk group is folks 65 and older, so it’s good that it’s also the most up-to-date age group. Still, the overwhelming majority of seniors are avoiding the shot: Statewide, 34.1% of folks 65 and older have had the most recent vaccine, compared to 32.2% in Orange County, 28.5% in Los Angeles County, 26.2% in Riverside County and 24.3% in San Bernardino County.“The messaging from the CDC is horrible,” said Eva Kohn of San Clemente. “Most people think COVID is over.

Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and demographer at UC Irvine, lays much of the blame for low uptake on the Centers for Disease Control. The federal government’s decision to stop buying COVID vaccines last year also has not helped, said Richard Carpiano, a public and population health scientist and medical sociologist at UC Riverside.

Flu shots are more popular, but politics is at work here as well: 61% of Democrats, 38% of independents and 35% of Republicans got the flu shot this year. More than half of Republicans, 52%, said nuts to that. Smaller groups, less than 10%, say they distrust vaccines in general or are concerned about an allergic reaction.The Orange County Health Care Agency said it continues to monitor COVID-19 vaccination coverage, and that the CDC continues to find that immunized folks are far less likely to need emergency care or hospitalization.

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