Thread by @magi_jay

My latest for @johnastoehr examines the unvaccinated in America, which pollsters have typically divided into two groups: “The Wait and See-ers” & the “Definitely Nots.” The first group is diverse & responsive to incentives. The second? Not so much. editorialboard.com/p/who-are-the-…

These two groups are motivated by both old and new dynamics. The Definitely Nots include GOP partisans who have merged with the more traditional extreme anti-vaxxers. The Wait & See-ers exhibit behavior & motivations that we've seen before in under-vaccinated people

The Wait & See group is racially diverse. It's also comprised of a lot of young people. POC may lack access to the vaccine or experience some medical hesitancy due to racism. Young people are likely underestimating their risk & putting this vaccine off like they do the flu shot

History & current data indicate people who underestimate risk or are medically hesitant can be reached. The other group--the Definitely Nots--are ideologues. A mishmash of Republicans and Jenny McCarthy fans. Their opposition is political & harder to pierce with reason.

One thing I thought about while writing this piece was the irresponsibility of the media in the early days of the pandemic. COVID is not just a disease of the elderly. Right wingers were the main perpetrators of this, but a lot of others participated. Remember "Boomer Remover?"

This early framing undoubtedly influenced perception of COVID among young people. How many young people skip their flu shots every year? Many know COVID is not "the flu." But others feel they are not at high risk, just like the flu. They also don't understand herd immunity.

We didn't know a lot about COVID in Feb/March. We could see higher death rates among the elderly & those w/ pre-existing conditions. But there are ways the entire media could have been better about reporting these data. "Young people are ok" was not responsible.

Here's what the media should have taken into consideration:
-COVID19 was a novel pathogen, so:
1. We don't know what it actually does to the body
2. There is a high probability the immune system, seeing this novel enemy, will hyper-react & attack more than the pathogen itself

The media could have consulted with doctors and seen that they didn't know how to treat COVID. It was a respiratory disease, but it wasn't like other respiratory diseases. Also, multiple organs seemed affected. Part of what made COVID so crazy were all the unknowns.

Since then, we've seen that COVID can both kill and ravage the bodies of younger people. Lung damage. Clots. Amputations. Strokes. Heart Damage. Kidney Damage. COVID Long-haulers.

People should have always been more cognizant of all we didn't know. But, instead, many set up an initial framing that has bred a lot of complacency in younger Americans. Hopefully DELTA will shake them out of it. Again, the young Americans in "Wait and See" *are* persuadable.

I've talked a bit about the "Wait and See" group. The "Definitely Nots" deserve their own attention. Partisanship has caused the anti-vax movement to swell. And, again, these people seem practically unreachable. Hopefully that, too, can change. editorialboard.com/p/who-are-the-…