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Healthcare worker with COVID-19 vaccine dose preparing patient arm for vaccination at examination room

Source: Westend61 / Getty

A new study shows a disparity between who’s getting the COVID-19 vaccine and those who’ll remain on the sidelines.

Nearly half of U.S. men who identify as members of the Republican party said they have no plans to get the Coronavirus vaccine, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released Thursday.

A base of over 1,200 adults were surveyed last week, and out of that group 49% of GOP men said they wouldn’t get a shot. While approximately 30 percent of Americans overall said they do not plan on getting vaccinated.

The other half of the Republican men said they would get the vaccine or had already got it. One percent was unsure either way. When Republican women were factored into the same group a total of 56 percent said they got it or were in the process of getting the first shot.

A huge gap compared to the responses from Democrats with 87 percent responding in a similar manner.

The hesitancy of getting the vaccine has been a challenge for some across the county. Despite President Biden saying the federal stockpile would be able to accommodate ever U.S. adult by May, some people aren’t sold on the idea of the vaccine’s effectiveness.

The Biden administration attempts to ramp up vaccine distribution across the country, including through funding to state and local government through the sweeping $1.9 trillion Coronavirus relief bill that President Biden signed into law Thursday afternoon.

With the latest findings, Leana Wen, a professor at George Washington University and an emergency physician, told PBS the amount of people not planning to be vaccinated may not be enough to reach herd immunity.

Also, data from the CDC reported that Black, Latino and Asian people have been underrepresented among those vaccinated when compared to white populations. Another sign any plan of immunity might be a forgone conclusion in the coming months, unless mass vaccination efforts ramp up even more.

As of Thursday, about 19 percent of the U.S. population, or more than 64 million people, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with roughly 10 percent, or 33.9 million people, fully vaccinated, according to the CDC’s vaccine tracker.

The approval of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine has helped ramp up distribution efforts, adding to the inoculations from Pfizer and Moderna, which each require two doses administered weeks apart.

Nearly half of Republican men say they won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine  was originally published on wbt.com