These are the top reasons people in Missouri, Kansas have chosen not to get vaccinated

Robert A. Cronkleton
·2 min read
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Dustin Guest, Immunization Coordinator for the Platte County Health Department, displays a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Parkville, Missouri.

There are many reasons why millions of Americans and thousands of Kansas and Missourians have chosen not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but a reoccurring theme is trust — or a lack there of, according to a recently released study.

Mistrust of government and lack of trust in the vaccines themselves, including possible side effects, were among the top reasons people in Missouri and Kansas were hesitant to get vaccinated, according to a survey conducted by QuoteWizard, an online insurance quote comparison company.

In Kansas, 51% of the unvaccinated were concerned about possible side effects, which was down 4% from September, while 46% didn’t trust the vaccines and 31% wanted to wait to see if its safe. About 41% didn’t trust the government.

In Missouri, 37% were concerned about possible side effects, which was down 20% from September, while 32% didn’t trust the vaccines. About 31% didn’t trust the government.

Despite the number of deaths and people getting sick with COVID-19, about 21% of people in Kansas and 15% of those in Missouri don’t believe COVID-19 is a threat.

On Thursday, Missouri reported that it has identified 695,748 total cases including 11,942 deaths. The seven-day positive test rate was 6.8%. In Missouri, 48.9% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Kansas has reported 426,924 total cases including 6,185 deaths. The monthly positive test rate was 7.5%. The percent of state’s population that has been fully vaccinated stands at 50.4%.

Nationwide, 56% of people say concerns over the side effects are keeping them from getting vaccinated, according to the study. The number of people because they don’t trust the vaccine rose to 45%. Meanwhile, the number of those who don’t think COVID-19 is a threat dropped to nearly 19%, down from 21% in September.

The main reasons people aren’t getting vaccinated are:

  • They don’t believe they need it.

  • They’re waiting to see if it’s safe.

  • They don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • They don’t trust the government.

The study also found that despite the fact the vaccines are free, people without insurance were nearly twice as likely not to get the vaccine. Nearly 20% of the people without healthcare coverage are vaccine hesitant.

The study also found that men are more vaccine hesitant than women and white communities have higher rates of vaccine hesitancy than most communities of color.

People responding to the survey were allowed to choose multiple reasons.

The study relies on the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey’s vaccine hesitancy data. The rate of unvaccinated was taken from the United States Census Bureau Survey on Explore COVID Vaccine Attitudes.