Polarization between parties fuels COVID-19 vaccine reluctance in U.S.: The Atlantic

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States has lagged far behind many developed countries in vaccinating against COVID-19, which seems unavoidable due to its many preexisting conditions, including the polarization between the two parties, said an article in The Atlantic.

Americans' attitudes towards vaccines are "unusually politicized," and some on the Republican side of the aisle claim that vaccines are faulty conspiratorially, the writer said in an article published Sunday.

"The U.S. is distinctly unlucky in having a polarized two-party system, in which one party's elites take up vaccine resistance as a prominent cause ... Negative polarization has fully overtaken the right wing of the Republican Party," he said.

The disbelief has been fueled by some media outlets like Fox News, which "have consistently questioned the benefits of the vaccines, amplified the side effects, celebrated evidence-free skepticism, and blasted attempts to promote vaccinations," he said.

A lack of insurance in young and low-income Americans who fear side effects and "a history of medical racism" also led to "an internationally unique reluctance," the article said.

"Underinsured, paranoid, and polarized, the U.S. rolled into 2021 with a uniquely impenetrable bedrock of vaccine skepticism," it said.