SPECIAL REPORT: The hidden causes of vaccine hesitancy
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout first began in December 2020, but nearly a year later, hold-outs remain - 13 On Your Side's Luis Lopez reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use about a year after the virus was discovered, but at first it wasn't readily available to everyone. That's not the case now, but some locals are still hesitant to get the shot.
When vaccines first came out, many people jumped at the opportunity.
Locally, the first shipments began to arrive in December 2020.
Dr. Bharat Magu, Chief Medical Officer at Yuma Regional Medical Center, says that patients were asking months in advance for the vaccine, and that many had already trusted that they would work.
“I think it is more, I wouldn’t even say faith, I think that they believed the evidence behind it at that time for the vaccinations, and they were very willing to get it as soon as it was available,” Dr. Magu said.
Many in Yuma County jumped at the opportunity to get the shot, with some lines even stretching out to over a mile long. However, not everyone in the area went out to these clinics.
WEB EXTRA: Dr. Bharat Magu discusses kids and the COVID-19 vaccine
CEO of Sunset Health, David Rogers says that with their patients, he noticed a different feeling towards the vaccine.
“We saw a great deal of hesitation among our patient population and other residents in Yuma County primarily because there must wasn’t a lot of information about the COVID illness, the COVID disease, the COVID pandemic,” Rodgers said.
One resident who still feels this way is Rosaura Strous, who still feels like she is being forced to take the shot.
“Who wants to do it for the right reasons, nobody knows what the right reasons are, you know, I mean there’s people getting sick anyways with or without it, you know the bottom line is you know, do we have a choice to get it or not,” Strous said.
Others have changed their minds. As Dr. Magu says, people seeing others suffer from the disease gives some who are still hesitant pause.
“I think personal stories matter a lot when they see a loved one or a friend who has suffered a lot, that may motivate people quite a bit more, you know how much that's effective,” Dr. Magu said.
And although daily deaths are not as high as they first were when COVID-19 first hit the desert southwest, deaths are still being reported, and cases are still trickling in.
COVID-19 is now a part of everyone's daily lives, vaccine shot or not.
