These maps show where COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is strongest – The Boston Globe

The good news is that Massachusetts leads the nation in receptiveness to getting the vaccine.

Only 6.98 percent of residents were hesitant to get the vaccine, the lowest percentage in the nation. That contrasted with the highest state in the nation, Wyoming, where more than 30 percent of people were hesitant, according to the federal estimates.

Still, within Massachusetts, the estimated percentage of people who are hesitant to take the vaccine varied, from 8.68 percent in Bristol County to 5.8 percent in Norfolk County (the least hesitant county in the nation), according to the estimates.

The agency developed estimates for both hesitancy and strong hesitancy among people 18 and older using responses to the Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey, which is measuring household experiences during the pandemic.

The hesitancy group included people who said they would probably not get a vaccine or definitely not get a vaccine. The strong hesitancy group was a subset of the first group that only included people who said they would definitely not get a vaccine.

Heres how the states counties look in terms of hesitancy and strong hesitancy.

And heres a look at counties across the United States.

The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation says on its website that the estimates were developed, using the Household Pulse Survey and other survey data, to support state and local communication and outreach efforts.

A poll released in March by a consortium that includes Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers, and Northwestern universities also found Massachusetts with the lowest percentage among the states of residents who said they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Samuel Scarpino, an epidemiologist at Northeastern University, said it was good news that people in Massachusetts are receptive to getting the shot, but the state needs to follow through and make those vaccinations happen, as well as other vaccinations for children once they are approved.

Its wonderful that were working with a situation where lots of people want to get the vaccine. We need to capitalize on that and make sure we all get it, he said.

He warned that as the weather gets warmer and case numbers drop, people could lose their sense of urgency. It wont be so much hesitancy as I cant be bothered to navigate the website, take time out of my day, etc. That means were going to have to get increasingly creative about taking the vaccines to where the people are, he said.

Were not done. Weve got to get the vaccine into peoples arms, and its going to get harder before its going to get better, he said.

Robert Weisman and Emma Platoff of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Martin Finucane can be reached at martin.finucane@globe.com.

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These maps show where COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is strongest - The Boston Globe