This week in coronavirus: Who doesn’t want the COVID-19 vaccine? White, rural Republicans – By Brett Kelman (Nashville Tennessean) / April 19 2021
“This week in coronavirus” is a weekly column that summarizes Tennessee headlines about the pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines. If you can’t follow the rapid-fire virus news every day, this column will catch you up.
Sixty-nine percent of Tennessee’s white, rural, conservative residents say they are unwilling to be vaccinated against coronavirus, suggesting this state faces a steep obstacle in one of its largest demographics, according to new survey data released by the state government.
These new results align with numerous other polls conducted across the nation showing that Republicans – and specifically white, rural Republicans – are the American population most likely not to be vaccinated.
That’s a real problem for Tennessee. If you take a good look around and start counting rural Republicans, you will notice we have quite a few. If Tennessee cannot overcome at least some of this widespread hesitancy, the state faces a likely future where the virus lingers in unvaccinated pockets in its reddest counties, infecting and killing long after it should have been stopped.
