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On the public vaccinations of Pence, McConnell and other GOP officials and whether it could close the partisan divide in vaccine hesitancy documented this week by @KFF. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/18/world/covid-19-coronavirus#pence-mcconnell-and-other-officials-receive-vaccinations-but-will-that-close-the-partisan-divide-on-the-shot
What most intrigued me in the excellent @KFF work by @lizhamel @AshleyKirzinger and team was the rationales for vaccine hesitancy. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/report/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-december-2020/
Among Republicans who expressed hesitancy, the most common rationale was: "The risks of COVID-19 are being exaggerated". This, to me, is a clear demonstration of the corrosive effects of messaging by Trump and others.
Per the Times: "One reason [for the partisan gap] experts say, is the president...his repeated denigration of scientists and insistence that the pandemic is not a threat have contributed to a sense among his followers that the vaccine is either not safe or not worth taking"
Downplaying the threat + distrust in scientific authority and the FDA + underlying personal responsibility (vs. collective responsibility) values each contribute toward the partisan gap in vaccination intentions, all on display in the survey data. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/report/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-december-2020/
But I also don't think it's a forgone conclusion - intentions may not translate to actual vaccination behavior. First, cues from officials and credible messengers will matter, as @matt_motta notes in the Times piece.
Second, we know from tons of scientific evidence that if a doctor recommends the vaccine that is a strong predictor of uptake.
Third and finally - the vaccine needs to be available, accessible in lots of different places, and free. We need to reduce all the barriers of access to effectively translate intentions into action. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2774381
