<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/6/1622574616057.png" alt="A sign advertises vaccine availability outside a grocery store in Hays.&nbsp;David Condos / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>A sign advertises vaccine availability outside a grocery store in Hays.&nbsp;David Condos / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID CONDOS <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/resistance-among-kansans-covid-19-vaccines-fading-except-where-it-isnt">Kansas News Service</a>New survey results show that reluctance to get COVID-19 vaccinations has dropped in Kansas.At the same time, worries about vaccine side effects seem to be increasing.Federal
 statistics analyzed by the Kansas Health Institute, or KHI, show that 
roughly 22% of Kansan adults reported feeling uncertain about getting 
the vaccine in April. That’s down from 30% in March and 47% in January. 
(KHI, like the Kansas News Service, gets significant support from the 
Kansas Health Foundation.)It’s the first analysis of data from the US Census Bureau’s <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html">Household Pulse Survey</a>
 since Kansas opened up vaccine access to all adults at the end of 
March. And it shows that more than three quarters of Kansas respondents 
had either gotten their shot or planned to do so.“We already see
 that people who are excited about the (vaccine efficacy) data are 
getting the vaccine,” said KHI analyst Emily Burgen. “We’re mostly 
concerned about those who are uncertain.”Burgen said that the 
next phase of vaccination efforts should give people space to ask 
detailed questions and take the time to address their specific concerns 
in a nonjudgmental way. And as more of the vaccine rollout shifts into 
the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/cdc-urges-states-get-more-covid-19-vaccine-doctors-offices">doctor’s office</a>, that could offer people more opportunities to have one-on-one conversations with a trusted health care professional.“To me,” Burgen said, “it comes back to sharing factual information and having those conversations.”<h2>Reasons for concern</h2>Gretchen
 Homan, a professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 
Wichita, said that the best route to addressing a patients’ worries 
about the vaccine is often the most simple and direct one.“Listen
 to what they’re concerned about, talk about what you've learned and … 
explain why it’s so important,” Homan said. “They just want to hear 
confidence from you.”But as the pool of people still hesitant 
about the vaccine shrinks, the barriers to reaching those who remain 
unconvinced get bigger. The number of survey respondents who said they 
were concerned about possible vaccine side effects increased by 15 
percentage points compared to the previous month, from 49% to 64%.The
 survey also reported increases in the number of people who listed a 
lack of trust in the government and a belief that COVID-19 is not a 
serious illness among their reasons for vaccine reluctance. Roughly half
 of respondents said concerns about vaccine safety were keeping them 
from getting the shot.And the number of people who may be open 
to learning more about the vaccine also appears to be dwindling. Of the 
22% of people who remain uncertain, roughly 8% said they would 
definitely not get a vaccine — a figure that has remained steady since 
January.Some of the concerns highlighted in the survey, however,
 could be more easily addressed. Roughly 7% of people said they hadn’t 
gotten the vaccine because their doctor had not recommended it, which is
 something Emily Burgen of KHI said many doctors might not have thought 
of. And nearly 10% listed the cost of the vaccine as a barrier.“That’s just a public health messaging (issue),” Bergen said. “The cost to (get) the vaccine is free.”<h2>Pause and effect</h2>The
 survey also shows the impact that the Johnson and Johnson pause had on 
the public’s view of vaccine side effects. The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/joint-cdc-and-fda-statement-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine">recommended</a>
 that health agencies temporarily stop giving out that shot in mid-April
 to study a rare blood clot condition that showed up in six out of 6.8 
million people who had received that version of the vaccine.Federal agencies <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-and-cdc-lift-recommended-pause-johnson-johnson-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-use-following-thorough">lifted</a>
 the pause 10 days later after determining the vaccine was safe to use. 
But Bergan said the survey, which was conducted both during and after 
the pause, shows that it had a lasting effect on people’s ideas about 
the vaccine’s effects.“That Johnson and Johnson pause,” Burgen 
said, “even though it is a normal part of clinical trials, really 
affected how people are viewing all three vaccines … not just the 
Johnson and Johnson vaccine.”That’s further complicated by common misunderstandings about the difference between side effects and adverse effects.Adverse effects, like the blood clots that paused the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, have been <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/antivaccine-activists-use-government-database-side-effects-scare-public">very rare</a>.
 And Burgen said that most side effects are natural signs of the body’s 
immune system reacting to the vaccine in the way it’s supposed to, just 
like when someone’s arm hurts after a flu shot.But stories about people feeling sick after their shots have gotten an <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/except-for-sore-arm-3-out-of-4-people-didnt-report-covid-19-vaccine-side-effects">outsized amount</a>
 of social media attention compared to the number of people who actually
 experience them. That could lead other people to be afraid of getting 
their own shots.“Are we elevating those side effects,” Burgen said, “and creating rhetoric around the vaccine that maybe shouldn’t be there?<h2>‘Baby Steps’</h2>Gretchen
 Homan, who joined Burgen for a presentation to medical professionals 
from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, agrees that messages about the
 vaccine’s safety and side effects need to be more straightforward. She 
said that the risk of experiencing fatigue, fever and chills after the 
shot is small compared to protection from a potentially fatal virus.“The
 COVID-19 vaccines have been developed under the most intensive safety 
monitoring in U.S. history,” Homan said. “We know it's safe, and we know
 it works.”Burgen, the KHI analyst, said that doesn’t mean 
concerns about vaccine side effects aren’t valid. For example, some 
people may not want to risk feeling ill after their shot if they can’t 
take a day off from work or if they need to care for a loved one.“It's
 a really tough decision for some people to make to get the vaccine,” 
Burgen said. “And the goal is not necessarily … for someone to be 
excited about getting the vaccine by the end of the conversation, but 
kind of starting to move the needle closer.”But if sizable pockets of people remain unvaccinated, it could lead to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-next-phase-of-the-us-pandemic-pockets-of-localized-outbreaks">future outbreaks</a> in Kansas — particularly in the state’s rural areas, where vaccination rates <a href="https://www.kcur.org/2021-05-21/vaccination-rates-in-rural-parts-of-kansas-and-missouri-are-lagging">continue to trail</a> urban centers.Burgen
 said she hopes that, as more Kansans safely receive the vaccine and 
more doctors are able to administer it, word-of-mouth promotion will 
slowly help more people feel comfortable getting their shot.“It’s baby steps.”David Condos covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/davidcondos">@davidcondos</a>.

Kansans' resistance to COVID vaccines fading, except where it isn't