Hospital officials say nearly nine out of 10 of those hospitalized in intensive care units for COVID-19 in the most recent surge and 84% of those who died were unvaccinated. Local health experts say they are working hard to increase vaccination rates in remote and underserved areas, but are stymied by challenges including misinformation and mistrust.
Our investigation found:
-Statewide, 60% of eligible Ohioans are fully vaccinated.
-Overall, vaccination trends tend to correlate with other factors related to health outcomes, such as poverty and education.
- The vaccination rate for white residents is considerable higher than for Black residents in area counties and across Ohio, while Black Ohioans who get COVID disproportionately end up hospitalized from it.
- Rural counties with the lowest vaccination rates have seen the most deaths per 100,000 residents; meanwhile the counties with the highest vaccination rates have seen the lowest per-capita deaths.
Dr. Terry Moncrief, a Southwest Ohio allergy doctor who sees both rural and minority patients who are at particular risk from COVID-19 because of issues like asthma and obesity, said she constantly runs into vaccine concerns.
“Early on, it was more of the vaccine was rushed and there was not enough research that had been done on the vaccine. There were some concerns about conspiracy theories very early on,” she said “But now what I’m hearing more of is people have a false sense of their risk being lower than it likely truly is.”
Moncrief said she tells her patients she trusts the science enough to get her children and herself vaccinated, and explains what their individual risk factors are if they got COVID. She urges people to talk to their doctors.
“Be open-minded to have the conversation with your doctor because really we’re just here to take are of our people and we really care. I really care. I don’t want any more of my patients to die from COVID,” she said.
The vaccination map follows the same patterns as other maps of health outcomes — with lower socio-economic areas facing disproportionate risk.
For example, none of the 10 ZIP codes with the highest poverty levels had vaccination rates above 50%. Most of the 10 ZIP codes with the lowest poverty levels were at least 60% vaccinated.
Likewise, educational attainment correlates with vaccination rates. Most of the ZIP codes with the highest percentages of college graduates have vaccination rates over 70%. Most of those with the lowest percentage of college grads have rates under 45%.
The racial divide
Statewide, 42% of eligible Black residents are vaccinated compared to 53% of white residents and the disparity plays out locally.
“We are becoming instruments of our own destruction because of messaging,” said the Rev. Benjamin Speare-Hardy of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Trotwood, a majority Black congregation in a majority Black town.
Speare-Hardy other area pastors have worked with public health to increase vaccination rates in the community, even offering vaccines at church and doing a podcast. But he said the young population is particularly hesitant. He said prominent, respected members of the community should continue being vocal about why they are vaccinated and encourage others to do so.
“We have to lead by example,” he said. “We have to keep preaching and fighting against the hesitancy.”
Howard Rucker, a 40-year-old phlebotomist at Miami Valley Hospital who is Black and lives in the 45417 ZIP code, said he was initially unsure about getting the shot. But after witnessing so many unvaccinated people through his work die from COVID because they didn’t get the shot, he said it was common sense.
He wishes he could show people what it’s like inside Miami Valley Hospital’s coronavirus units.
Rucker said people in his community are scared and lack definitive information about coronavirus vaccines. He agrees that hearing from other people who are vaccinated might help convince people.
“Proof. Something that I do when people ask me did I get the vaccine, I keep my vaccination card with me and I show them,” he said.
Rucker’s 14-year-old daughter hasn’t gotten the COVID vaccine yet.
“We (are) waiting to see,” he said. “I know they just approved it but I’m still going to wait and make sure before I give it to her.”
He’s concerned about both short-term and long-term side effects.
“She has eczema and asthma. I’m going to take all that into consideration before I just let them give her the vaccine,” he said. “I’ve been talking to her pediatrician a lot, asking questions. He said probably to get it but if I wanted to wait a little longer, I could. But I just gotta’ monitor where she goes and what she does, stuff like that.”
Survey: Why people forgo jab
Respondents to a Journal-News survey asking people why they haven’t gotten vaccinated simply don’t believe the vaccine is safe or effective. Many believe the media and government are underplaying the dangers of the vaccines and overplaying the risk of COVID-19. Many also point out that people who are vaccinated are getting COVID.
These sentiments were shared by many people coming and going from the BMV in downtown Franklin, where fewer than half of eligible residents are vaccinated.
“You don’t know what the side effects are going to be. It could be years before you know the side effects,” said Mark Jewett.
Jewett said his doctor encourages the vaccine, but he is still worried about it. Like most people interviewed in Franklin and who responded to the survey, he has zero trust in the government. Many people said they trust no one but themselves.
Patricia Scott said she was concerned about things she read online and heard from people about the vaccine. But she ended up getting it because her doctor said she should because of other health issues.
“Once my heart doctor and my primary care signed off that I could get it, I really didn’t have a choice,” she said.
The rural divide
Craig Carafa is the owner and pharmacist at Saint Paris Pharmacy, which serves two of the lowest vaccinated ZIP codes in rural Champaign County where the rates are 33% and 38%.
“It’s heartbreaking for me as both a pharmacist and a member of the community,” he said of the resistance he hears to the vaccine.
“The amount of people recently we’ve done some vaccinations for is because they know someone who unfortunately has passed away from it,” he said.
He said he talks to people about the science showing the vaccines are safe and effective. He respects his customers’ freedom to choose if they want it or not, but worries about those who are vulnerable and refuse to get vaccinated.
“All I can do is offer the opportunity and go to your house to do it, and we will,” he said.
Of the 17 ZIP codes with vaccination rates under 40%, eight are in rural counties Darke and Preble.
Darke County Health Commissioner Terrence Holman said they offer several vaccine locations and are trying to address misinformation about the vaccine. They plan to start posting educational billboards and offering clinics in Bradford and Union City – where $100 cash cards will be offered – and are trying to address misinformation about the vaccine.
“We feel that there are several reasons for the vaccine hesitancy in our county,” he said. “We are a very rural, conservative county. People don’t feel as at risk due to being so spread out.”
Adjusted for population, however, Preble and Darke counties have the highest numbers of deaths from COVID-19 in the region per 100,000 residents, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of Ohio Department of Health data.
Trust doctors, not politicians
Politics plays a muddying role as well. People interviewed often invoke their dislike and mistrust of President Joe Biden.
Warren and Butler counties, however, which are staunchly conservative and voted for Trump by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in 2020, have the highest countywide vaccination rates. They also have the lowest number of COID-19 deaths per 100,000 population.
Trump himself received vaccines and booster shots and has expressed frustration with people not giving his administration enough credit for developing the vaccines.
Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones, a 2016 Trump delegate and vocal conservative, said he took heat recently for releasing a video urging people to take precautions to protect themselves against COVID-19.
Jones said three of his employees have died from COVID, and in the first month of this year the 70 cases among his staff are almost as much as the 80 each of the previous full years.
Jones said he was vaccinated last year after his antibodies from having COVID previously started declining. He said anti-vaccine people he knows are smart, hard-working people with good reasons not to trust the government and understandably not wanting to be told what to do.
“Here’s what I tell them: It’s your choice. I got my shots. It’s up to you,” he said. “I don’t get my med advice from any politician, I get my medical advice from my doctor.”
Joyce Patrick, 82, who has lived and operated a business in Trenton for more than 50 years, said she has received two vaccination and one booster shot. When considering whether to get vaccinated, she said those who developed the medicine --- she called them “masterminds” – did enough research and development to gain her trust.
“It comes down to common sense,” Patrick said.
She has been exposed to those who tested positive for COVID-19 at least twice, and she never got the virus, she said.
“That proved it to me,” she said.
Her son, who refused to be vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 and got seriously ill. He now has been vaccinated, he said.
“He learned,” Patrick said.
Jordan Flavin, 29, a mother of three children, ages 3, 7 and 8, said since she works in the healthcare industry, she was required to be vaccinated. Even without the work requirement, Flavin said she would have chosen to get the vaccine.
“As a mother,” she said while washing clothes in the Leisure Laundry, “you want to keep your kids, your family safe.”
