Except during a global pandemic when we need people to get vaccinated quickly

As of the third week of June, more than 2.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the world. But perhaps more important are the doses that haven’t been given.

That we would somehow get 100% vaccine adoption was never realistic. That we would get somewhere close to the magical herd immunity number of ~80% was more achievable, but still a stretch goal. However, the fact that no country in the world would have jabbed 70% of its population with a single dose halfway through the year or fully vaccinated over 60% of its population is eye-opening. Because we know that the chances of a mutation occurring that can evade the current vaccines increase as we allow the current variants to rip through the unvaccinated population.

Yes, consistent supply has been an issue in the slow pace of the vaccination numbers. And the concern of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine did not help instil confidence. And then there was the total disaster that no one could have predicted with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine manufacturing debacle that has completely eliminated the only reliable single-shot vaccine that many had pinned their hopes on to drive vaccination uptake because of its simplicity and convenience.

But there have been other reasons for the slow rate of vaccinations. Some people simply don’t want one. Some people are suspicious of these specific COVID-19 vaccines and the speed with which they have been developed, which spotlights a safety concern. Others are simply suspicious of the governments and manufacturers that are rolling them out, and the potential for the vaccines to be used to track or control citizens, which is most assuredly a crackpot theory that has its roots in the misinformation about this virus that has been circulating for months. And then there those who have been conditioned to believe, either by misinformation or through previous negative experience, that these vaccines cost a lot of money or that they will be required to pay for them out of pocket. Let’s face it, there is a long history of mistrust between governments and communities on the issue of healthcare and public health.

According to the recent American COVID-19 Vaccine Poll , which was a partnership between the African American Research Collaborative and The Commonwealth Fund that surveyed over 12,000 Americans to better understand their access to and opinions about the vaccines, it is eminently clear that people identify significant barriers to getting vaccinated. These are a group of people – not the vaccine hesitant or the anti-vaxxers – who I call the vaccine impeded. These are people who actually want the vaccine but are blocked from getting it due to a variety of reasons including the inability to get time off work, a lack of access to transportation to get to a vaccination site, the absence of the necessary technology to book their vaccination appointment(s) or low health literacy that interferes with their ability to understand when they are eligible and what to do and where to go to get vaccinated in their local area.

In North America, attempts are being made to remove barriers for this group of people by sending mobile vaccination units to ‘hotspot’ neighbourhoods to inoculate people, providing free ride-sharing for individuals who do not have reliable transportation and convincing employers to give employees paid time off to get vaccinated.

But let’s be clear about one thing in this mess of unvaccinated people who are still out there: these are not exclusively people from communities of colour or older people or people who have lower incomes or are not college-educated. And the data shows that many people face more than one barrier. The results of this survey demonstrate that the vaccine impeded are as much Caucasian, young, college-educated and of a higher income bracket. By some estimates, 5-10% of the unvaccinated face barriers despite wanting to get their COVID-19 shots.

Knowing how many barriers people face and what those barriers are is critical in the fight against COVID-19. This data provides meaningful insights as we look at the last six months of 2021 as being instrumental in preventing a fall and winter surge with more dangerous variants, saving more lives and gearing up for what is sure to be an even tougher battle to convince people to get a booster shot in 2022.

In most scenarios, patience is a virtue. In our current situation, it could prove disastrous.