There are 15 different places to get a Covid-19 vaccine in Louisiana’s Vernon Parish. Most locations have plenty of shots, and residents can even stop by the fairgrounds for one of the pop-up vaccine clinics.
The only thing lacking is customers, said Rick Allen, mayor of Leesville, the parish seat. It isn’t access, or availability, or a lack of transportation or education that is keeping the vaccination rate in the area to roughly 12%, he said.
“It’s a lack of trust,” said Mr. Allen. “The only thing that will overcome that is time.”
Nearly 40% of the U.S. adult population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. But the pace of vaccinations has slowed to an average of 2.5 million shots a day, down from 3.2 million earlier in April.
On Friday, officials in Arkansas said they wouldn’t order more vaccine for the coming week, noting there was enough already in the state. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomoopened all state-run vaccination sites to walk-ins last week, citing a drop in appointments. In California, a mass-vaccination site at Dodger Stadium will close by the end of May so that vaccine efforts can shift to other sites, officials said Friday.
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