I spent much of the last year traveling in places like the pan handle of Florida. Most people I encountered did not believe COVID was any worse than the flu. They were not going to wear masks or socially distance, no matter what "Biden's CDC" said. Having talked to dozens and dozens of people, and watched how different communities behaved, it is definitely real.
While my friends in places like SF had to wait months to get a shot, I walked into a grocery store and got one without any waiting. The maskless women who gave it to me was surprised I was there because I was the only person under 70 she had seen come in.
Agree, you can’t wrap these areas with low vaccination rates up in a tidy little virus denial ball to explain why they aren’t getting vaccines. It’s many reasons with a really large one being that the virus until relatively recently probably didn’t hit those areas very hard. So in a sense my buddy who lives in the woods alone off the Suwannee River—who rarely goes into town and generally only watches gunsmoke reruns on TV, simply doesn’t see Covid as the threat that folks in NYC in April 2020 did. He probably doesn’t even know someone who has had it.
Knowing something is real, but not being affected or concerned about it is a lot different then claiming it doesn’t exist.
Not sure of where you are from, but I am in the US and in state that had a whole lot of cases. I live in a metropolitan area with several million people. I know personally, maybe 20 people who have had it. One of the 20 was hospitalized from it. Personally I know zero people that have died from it, and only know a 2-3 acquaintances who have lost loved ones. All of those lost were well into their 80s.
So it’s not unusual that in a rural area…folks may not see Covid as the threat that others do. I viewed it as a threat enough to get vaccinated as soon as I was able, but out of an abundance of caution…not fear.
Same I know zero people hospitalized or died. And my aunt lives in a senior community where many got it...
The only person I know who died lives in a third world country and had medical issues. Terribly sad, but I mean we hear stories of all kinds of terrible disease from there.
I don't deny covid at all. I am vaccinated, and was first in line .
What I am not is a fear mongerer. The data show that if you're young and without preexisting conditions your chances of survival without hospitalization are excellent.
I'm sorry you've lost friends, but just because I've also lost friends to mild diseases, like the common cold or common bacteria, doesn't mean I need to tell people who don't think a cold is a big deal that they're a cold denier.
While my friends in places like SF had to wait months to get a shot, I walked into a grocery store and got one without any waiting. The maskless women who gave it to me was surprised I was there because I was the only person under 70 she had seen come in.