A number of factors have fueled California’s remarkable turnaround from national epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic to having one of the lowest case rates in the U.S.
But one weapon in its arsenal has gone largely unnoticed: Californians’ general embrace of COVID-19 vaccines.
Federal data indicate only about 11% of Californians are estimated to be vaccine hesitant, a lower rate than all but four states: Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Hawaii.
This relative lack of reluctance has undoubtedly been a boon for the state’s inoculation campaign — though a Times analysis shows Californians in some of the state’s conservative rural areas remain more disinclined to get the shots than their urban-dwelling neighbors.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-01/minimal-vaccine-hesitancy-fuels-californias-covid-recovery