According to a report by the
Associated Press, a number of states now have to work harder to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. For instance, Louisiana has had to stop asking the federal government for its full allotments of vaccine doses. The Pelican State is instead redirecting its efforts to encourage Louisianians to get their shots.
The
Louisiana Department of Health said it would send out more than 100,000 mailers on April 26 exhorting people to get vaccinated. It added that automated calls from regional medical directors would also be rolled out in a bid to fight vaccine hesitancy.
Meanwhile, about three out of four Kansas counties have turned down new COVID-19 vaccine doses within the last month.
Apr 26, 2021
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste.
As the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses in the U.S. outpaces demand, some places around the country are finding there’s such little interest in the shots, they need to turn down shipments.
“It is kind of stalling. Some people just don’t want it,” said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department in rural Kansas’ Decatur County, where less than a third of the county’s 2,900 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.