America is gaining ground regarding the numbers of people who have chosen to be vaccinated. Although many have chosen to do so, there remain many who have not. As a result, vaccine hesitancy is being discussed everywhere.
What does “hesitancy” mean and how will it impact efforts to stop the pandemic?
Vaccine hesitancy is described as an unwillingness to take a vaccine or vaccines. Lately, the term is also being used to describe those who have received the first dose of one of the available COVID-19 vaccines but who aren’t returning for the follow-up dose.
There are concerns the unwillingness of people to be vaccinated or to receive full doses of the available vaccines will prevent the development of herd immunity. What constitutes herd immunity differs, but current estimates are that between seventy and eighty percent of the population should be vaccinated to reach the goal of herd immunity.
[…]