What is the main reason people are choosing not to get the vaccine?

Biodiversity, and natural selection. The world should not put its eggs all in one basket.
~ Just in case that the vaccination is a plot to take over the world with mind controling nanobots. Or is defective and harmful.

Stupidity and ignorance. People trust some random anti vaxxing Texas housewife over Doctors and Epidemiologists.

So they are just buying into the conspiracy theories??
They that dumb?

You should get a vaccine even if you have had Covid.

I’m not going to demean people who make different choices than I do, but I’ve heard a few different thing’s. It doesn’t resonate with me personally but I try to respect their personal choices.

1) It’s not FDA approved. Many feel that is a dealbreaker, after some incidents and other vaccines were pulled.
2) Religious aka it’s the mark of the beast. (True story, someone told me that that now has Covid)
3) Mistrust of the Administration or general mistrust of govt.

Don’t get me started on all the mask excuses. Sigh.

Can’t fix stupid. . ..
In my area some of the fundamentalist pastors are supporting the conspiracy theories.

While I have heard various reasons, and know some not-right-wing people who have deliberated, delayed or decided not to get vaccinated, There’s A Stark Red-Blue Divide When It Comes To States’ Vaccination Rates

(I also heard the mark-of-the-beast rumor, though I heard it via a bot spam attack on one of my web sites… apparently, the message is important enough to use hacker bot technology to get the work out…)

I think it’s just human to shut down and stay veeery still when there’s any sort of risk involved, especially physical harm. I got the vaccine as soon as I could and feel good about it – but I also understand those that are worried and want to wait. It’s terrible because they’re endangering others, but I really do believe that many of these people can still be reached. There was a good episode of The Daily recently, and one interviewed doctor impressed me by describing how he very gently disentangles hesitant people from their fears. Mostly by taking them seriously, and refraining from judgment.

Honestly, there’s a wide chasm between those who actually believe in reptilian overlords, and the many sensible human beings who have learned not to trust their government, or doctors, or who just do not have the time or ability to understand why this vaccine is safe.

I know a few people who were hesitant. They did some research and got their shots. I know that’s not going to happen for Covid deniers. But conflating the two groups and calling them all stupid will probably make some people double down. Which is another very human thing.

They’re stupid.

Distrusting the government, and how quickly it was developed.

Oh, yeah. And they’re idiots.

Are we still discussing this? <sigh> crazyguy may be gone but his subject matter lingers.

Contrariness, religious(small %), and mistrust of intentions and results, imo

Crazyguy is gone? How did that happen?

Wait an see mentality before deciding could be the reasons.
No travel allowed if NOT Vaccinated might change their minds.

@kneesox <shrugs> Dunno, but that’s what his profile says. For a day or two there was the name ‘crazyguytemp’, but it’s gone too. Not sure he’s really gone; maybe a new name?

There are apparently plenty of people ready to believe, mediums, psychics and hillbilly pundits.

Stupidity, plain and simple.

Willful ignorance

Active stupidity

Not understanding how the vaccines are made, or how they work, nor understanding the science.

Or in my cousin’s case, thinking that because she has an allergy to bees, and chocolate, she will necessarily be allergic to the vaccine, which contains neither bees, nor chocolate.

Or my aunt believing that Bill Gates manufactured the virus to make money from “his” vaccine, and so that he could “chip” us.

People still believing (thanks to Jenny McCarthy) that vaccines cause autism, or the flu.

People not believing that Covid actually exists, so they would not bother with an “extremely dangerous” vaccine, if there is no virus in the first place.

Good old fashioned, right wing zealot, hillbilly-style conspiracy theories which appear to make Democrats/liberals/progessives look like the devil.

Tea party-esque conspiracy theorists who believe that g’vment is out to “get them” and “steal their guns” by manipulation with vaccines which will “make them sick.”

There is a significant group of people who feel they are healthy and don’t need to worry about COVID. They talk about vitamins and exercise and their immune systems and that they never get sick and even when they do it last for a few days.

Another group of people are religious fanatics (not to be confused with people who are very religious and also very sane) and the fanatics are terrified of government control and believe every conspiracy theory about Bill Gates trying to kill or sterilize Black people and track everyone else to covid was a way to bring in socialism to the USA.

Sometimes those two groups overlap.

Not everyone who believes the conspiracy theories are religious zealots, some are just sucked into the fear mongering.

Then you have people who were wary regarding how fast the vaccine was developed. That is not totally irrational. No steps were skipped when developing the vaccine, but there is always a chance that when the vaccine is finally put on the market that new side effects will be discovered. Also, since it was developed quickly any long term side effects would be unknown, although there seems to be close to zero reason why something would change or develop over the long term. I would not have wanted the vaccine the first month it came to market. Let the first million go ahead of me then I felt fine putting my arm out. Some people needed 20 million people to get it along with some friends and family before they were ready.

Then you have people who just don’t trust the medical establishment.

Other people think they are calculating the odds right. If they get the shot they 100% got the shot. If they never get covid they don’t have to worry about effects from covid. If they get covid only a certain percentage get very sick, etc.

Quite a few people were/are very afraid of an anaphylactic reaction. The two people in my life with this fear finally got vaccinated. One just had her second shot on time the other is delaying her second shot. Both had to know medical care was close by to do it and I don’t mean a pharmacist with an epipen.

@JLeslie Yes a friends daughter had a severe reaction to the first and won’t get the second. She does not have allergies or other issues either.
Those people scare others on the fence too.

@KNOWITALL Some people seem to not understand the difference between an allergic reaction and a side effect. I don’t know the case with your friend’s daughter, but what you said made me think of mentioning it. People with allergic reactions on the first dose are advised not to take the second.

I know two people who had bad side effects to the first and really had to muster the courage to get the second. I should say one I really know and one was in the Facebook COVID group I created for my community. I would have completely understood if they had decided not to do the second shot. Both were fine with the second. It’s kind of weird. Either they both were very sick from something else the first time, or that’s just how the vaccine affected them.

Another real life friend of mine said she knows two people who have ongoing headaches that they attribute to the vaccine. I don’t know if they were headache prone before the shot, and I’m not sure it’s still happening to them, but it was weeks out they were still complaining of it.

Fear.

Ignorance.

They are still following the Fraud-Father (the one with Tangerine make-up) and are anti-Science.