Vaccine Hesitancy

Health care facilities have until March 15 to get their staffs fully vaccinated. This is a challenge in Missouri which has the lowest vaccination rates among health care workers.

Nearly 85% of all coronavirus-related hospitalizations across the state are unvaccinated individuals.

The lingering COVID-19 pandemic prompted Molly Wilson to seek a deeper understanding of vaccine hesitancy — and the possibilities for breaking through such hesitancy. She joins “St. Louis on the Air” as many parents are now weighing a big decision about vaccinating their kids.

For those who want their loved ones to be safe from the virus, trying to persuade people to get the shot is frustrating but not impossible.

Missouri’s senior senator traveled to six small towns to talk about economic development and health care issues facing rural areas.

All active-duty soldiers in the Army are required to get the shot, and those who don’t will face disciplinary action.

Scott Air Force Base officials are mainly working to engage with the concerns airmen may have with the vaccine, rather than just force every member to get the shot.

Long after the National Guard closed its mass vaccination clinic at the Dome, the Urban League continues to administer shots daily in underserved areas of St. Louis. James Clark, vice president of public safety and community response, discusses how that work is going.

The market for health care labor continues to be pinched. Rural hospitals are finding they can attract staff by not requiring staff to get the COVID vaccine.

Public health experts believe that vaccine hesitancy and refusal are largely to blame for the proliferance of the delta variant and that coronavirus infection rates will continue to increase if vaccination rates remain stagnant.