Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Vaccination Statistics by Age

Vaccination Statistics by Age

Last updated on: August 2, 2021 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Vaccination Statistics by Age 2021-07-31T12:54:01-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You can break down statistical data in any number of ways. In looking at COVID vaccination data, you can sort it out by race, political affiliation, religion, etc., etc. Thus we learn that the biggest resistance to getting vaccinated can be found among Republicans, evangelicals, blacks, and hispanics.

We can speculate why that is–generally, these groups are highly suspicious of the government–and, as that government is doing now, blame them for the resurgence of the Delta variation and lock down the nation again to protect the unvaccinated against their will.

But there are other ways to slice the data. One obvious way is by age. When we do that, a different picture emerges.

In his article It’s Time to Rethink What the ‘End’ of the Pandemic Looks Like, Jack Shafer of Politico says this (my bolds):

Any adjustment of our Covid-19 mindset should include a keener understanding of why so many people have rejected vaccination. That opposition, both passive and aggressive, appears to be linked to age. Older people, especially the 65-plus crowd, visit their doctors all the time compared with their younger cohorts. For them, a doctor or hospital visit is one of the main social events on their calendars. They become so accustomed to getting poked and bled that receiving a bolus of Pfizer in the upper arm is about as eventful as having a blood pressure check. Accordingly, they’ve taken to the vaccine like no other group in the country. An astonishing 91 percent of adults between the ages of 65 and 74 have taken at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. They took it because their friends were taking it. They took it because they trust their doctors and their doctors have urged them to vaccinate. And they took it because they’ve absorbed the lesson of Covid-19’s deadliness — about 80 percent of the people who die from Covid-19 in the United States are 65 and older.

As a member of this demographic, I am trying to be personally offended about what he says about visiting the doctor being one of our main social events, but I have to grudgingly concede that he has a point! And we are indeed used to being poked and bled, so getting a shot is no longer the big deal that it once was.

Furthermore, Shafer shows that the vaccination rate goes down according to age: “This appetite for vaccines declines as you descend the age ladder: 76 percent of those between 50 and 64 have taken at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine; 66 percent of the 40-49 age group; 57 percent for 25-39; 52 percent for 18-24; 48 percent for 16-17; and 37 percent for 12-15.”

Shafer points out that such variations by age are not irrational. The older you are, the greater the chance of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID, and the younger you are, the less likely you are to have serious symptoms.

And since the demographic that suffered 80% of the deaths is now 91% vaccinated, that is very good news in the battle against the pandemic. This explains why, though the infection rate from the Delta variant has sent the number of infections soaring, the number of deaths, at least right now, is low.

True, progress needs to be made. Now younger adults make up a bigger percentage of deaths, so they need to protect themselves also, as we oldies have done.

Shafer says that we need to determine our “tolerance level” for the disease, realizing that we are unlikely to eradicate it completely but that we cannot keep shutting down our society in an effort to eliminate all risk. We don’t do that with other diseases. He points out that in the 2017-2018 flu season, influenza put 810,000 Americans in the hospital and killed 61,000. Those are terrible numbers, but we didn’t panic, mandate masks, or lock down the economy. Could we accept numbers like that for COVID, treating it as just another, to quote Hamlet, of “the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to”?

Photo: “Army Cpt. Isaiah Horton, a doctor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, receives a COVID-19 vaccination, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., Dec. 14, 2020.” (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando) U.S. Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Previous Post

July 30, 2021

Panpsychism and the Scientific Search for Consciousness

Next Post

August 3, 2021 Sports Are Now Depressing

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I am told one only gets the $90 if one is on a Supplemental Medicare ..."

reg

On Trump’s Political Ads That You ..."

"I too don't think the $5,000 giveaway will happen, but only because the Trumpublicans won't ..."

Tom Hering

On Trump’s Political Ads That You ..."

"Well, large cash give-aways are generally bad policy, but really bad in any of the ..."

1another

On Trump’s Political Ads That You ..."

"Well, we think it pretty much fits my thesis, except I'm not sure whether all ..."

kerner

On Trump’s Political Ads That You ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "El Shaddai" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God Almighty Provider Prince of Peace God is Judge

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »