Top Three Takeaways – April 14th, 2021
- Vaccine hesitancy. It was a thing before. It’s a bigger thing now. The most consistent number this year has been 30%. That’s the percentage of Americans with vaccine hesitancy. It’s the same number sampled from the rollout in December, and it was the same number sampled as recently as last week based on Marist polling. It’s been clear that time alone wouldn’t resolve the concerns of nearly one in three Americans. And that was before they had a medical reason to have a concern. While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been pulled by the FDA and the CDC based on blood clotting issues in only six women out of 6.8 million Americans who’ve received the vaccine, it’s might as well be six million for those whose biggest concern is obtaining a vaccine only to find out later that there could be issues with it. Actually, we have an idea as to how many Americans are really hesitant vs resistant. In the most recent polling, 25% of Americans said they’d refuse a vaccine if offered one today and 5% said they were undecided. This helps explain why 30% has been the most consistent number. Only 5% of Americans are really in play at this point, a quarter were already opposed - and we can rest assured they certainty aren’t more likely to come around to a vaccine at this point. The question becomes how many of the 5%, or about 16 million Americans, will move from sitting on the fence to just opposed.
- Facts matter. In today’s Q&A I breakdown the evaluation I undertook, and shared with you every step of the way, which led to me never thinking the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was an especially good option and why I opted for the Moderna vaccine. Without diving into the details, it’s like this. Not all vaccines were created equal and there were multiple reasons, if one looked beyond convenience, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine didn’t appear to be the best option. My point in mentioning is this. If you are on the fence, there’s nothing we’ve learned which changes the facts, or my perspective based on the facts. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have always been the best options available.
- Run Rooney run. Remember when Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner was focused on agriculture? Remember when the Agriculture Commissioner had experience? Remember the days when that elective office was the least partisan in Florida politics? It feels like far more than 2+ years since Adam Putnam held the post, doesn’t it? One of my biggest annoyances in Florida politics is the mandate that offices which should be non-partisan, in my view...IE: Supervisors of Elections, Sheriffs, the Attorney General or Agriculture Commissioner as the case may be. But my preference doesn’t change the current reality and Tom Rooney’s record in Congress representing Florida’s agricultural interests were unmatched. As was his desire to not become a career Washington politician – hence his decision to end his tenure in Congress after ten years despite strong approval and being a prohibitive favorite to win his previous seat for as long as he’d want to hold it. Also, encouraging is this statement made to Florida Politics yesterday when he first suggested he may make a run for Ag Commissioner. There’s nothing worse than a former politician who thinks he can win just because he has been there before. Respectfully I’ll disagree. There’s nothing worse than an Agricultural Commissioner who’s an attorney from Fort Lauderdale with no agricultural experience whose primary desire is to be governor and saw the office as a steppingstone. So, run Rooney, run.
Photo Credit: Getty Images