OBSERVATIONS
May 6, 2021


Wingate Lassiter
THE EDITOR'S POINT OF VIEW

What's behind folks' reluctance
to get those coronavirus shots?

When it comes to county-by-county rankings of key measures of progress like population growth and economic development, Johnston County does pretty well.

But this week I was dismayed to read the rankings of counties in our region when it comes to getting folks vaccinated against COVID-19.

Here's what was published in Tuesday's News & Observer:

Triangle and surrounding counties by percentage of the population who are at least partially vaccinated:

  • Orange: 47.0%
  • Durham: 40.2%
  • Wake: 38.0%
  • Chatham: 35.5%
  • Person: 32.4%
  • Granville: 31.6%
  • Vance: 30.1%
  • Lee: 29.3%
  • Johnston: 26.9%
  • Franklin: 26.7%
  • Harnett: 20.4%

Triangle and surrounding counties by percentage of the population who are fully vaccinated:

  • Orange: 41.2%
  • Durham: 34.2%
  • Wake: 30.7%
  • Chatham: 30.3%
  • Person: 26.8%
  • Granville: 25.7%
  • Lee: 25.0%
  • Vance: 24.8%
  • Franklin: 22.3%
  • Johnston: 21.5%
  • Harnett: 17.6%
Is our poor showing a lack of effort by local authorities? Don't tell that to the front-line public servants at the Johnston County Health Departments and the Johnston County Sheriff's Department who have been praised again and again for their smooth handling of vaccination drive-thru clinics, or the pharmacists and other health-care providers who've stepped up to the plate to expand the public campaign.

Perhaps the culprit has more to do with attitudes among the populace. Too many folks around here, I fear, have been swayed by hearsay and social-media "conspiracy" spins about the vaccines and refuse to accept "the science" about their effectiveness in putting the pandemic to bed.

What if our parents had responded this way back in the 1950s when polio was a frightening epidemic that wasn't stopped until practically all of us were vaccinated.

But that was a time when Americans respected and listened to their leaders much more so than they do today. Coming out of the Great Depression and the Second World War had a lot to do with that.

Coming out of the intolerant political divisiveness we've been through over the past several years is undoubtedly a cause of apparent defiance and stubbornness when it comes to putting what's good for everybody ahead of one's selfish desires.

Meanwhile, we need to continue exercising caution when it comes to the virus that's still going around. Don't throw away those masks just yet.

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE

New steps leading from the parking lot to the Neuse Riverwalk are nice.
Not so nice is the vine-covered abutment at the Old Bridge Site.

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