Republicans And Independents Are Unwilling To Vaccinate

38% of Republicans and 34% Independents don't plan to vaccinate soon.  Only 12% of Democrats show hesitation.

26% of Americans don't have immediate plans to get vaccinated in the latest TIPP poll conducted in late April.  This number is down from 28% in our survey conducted in early April.  

Vaccine Hesitancy

The 26 percent who do not plan to vaccinate soon fall into two groups:

• 11% don't have a plan to get vaccinated soon
• 15% don't intend to get a vaccine at all

Those who don't have a plan to get a vaccine at all went up from 13% in early April to 15% in late April.  Reports of blood clots following the Johnson & Johnson shot in six women and the resulting temporary halt in using the vaccine may have contributed to increased mistrust.

Vaccine hesitancy among women is 30%, which is significantly higher than the 23% among men.  13% of women are putting off getting the jab for later, while 17% said they had no plans to get it.

Here are the top groups with no plans.

Vaccination Status

Among our survey participants,

• 40% were fully vaccinated
• 18% had had their first dose
• 16% were waiting for the vaccine to be available
• 26 % have no plans to get the shot soon

The fully vaccinated data is the aggregate of those who have received both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the single-shot of Johnson & Johnson's Covid vaccine.

Reports suggest that about 111 million people, or close to 33% of Americans, are fully vaccinated. Another 150 million have received the first shot and are partially immunized.

Virologists and infectious disease specialists say that herd immunity will stop this raging pandemic. Vaccination is the quickest and safest way of achieving herd immunity. To get there, experts opine that above 70% of the population must be immunized.

TIPP Takes

U.S. Navy Seizes Huge Weapons Cache In Arabian Sea

• The U.S. Navy says it seized a massive cache of illicit Russian and Chinese weapons from a stateless vessel sailing in international waters of the northern Arabian Sea.
• The U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey intercepted the boat and discovered the cargo during a routine boarding in a two-day operation.
• The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades launchers.
• The arms are in U.S. custody, and their source and intended destination are under investigation.
• It was the latest such interdiction by American sailors amid the long-running war in Yemen. The Navy did not identify where it believed the shipment originated.

Russia: Doctor Who Treated Alexei Navalny Goes Missing

• Alexander Murakhovsky was the first doctor to treat Alexei Navalny after he was poisoned with a nerve agent last year. The doctor has not been seen since Friday.
• According to the police, the physician was last seen leaving a hunting base in a forest in the Omsk region — around 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow — in an all-terrain vehicle.
• A search effort was already underway, including emergency services, drones, a helicopter, and volunteers on the ground.
• The doctor was promoted to the position of regional health minister last November.
• Murakhovsky had said that initial laboratory tests after treating Navalny had not shown traces of the Novichok nerve agent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Reviews Military Might As Tensions With West Soar

• The anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, which Russia calls Victory Day, is the country's most significant secular holiday, commemorating the Red Army's military feats and the vast suffering of civilians.
• About 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians are estimated to have died in the war.
• This year's parade included more than 12,000 troops and 190 military vehicles traversing Moscow's Red Square.
• The parade precedes parliamentary elections in September and comes at a time when Moscow's relations with the West are acutely strained over issues ranging from the conflict in Ukraine to the fate of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
• Smaller military parades took place in cities across Russia and in annexed Crimea and at Russia's Hmeymim airbase in Syria.

Zimbabwean Sculptor Is Fighting Covid-19 With Stones

• Since COVID-19 struck the world, African governments have been working tirelessly to combat the pandemic using online, TV, and radio announcements. However, much more awareness is needed, particularly in rural areas.
• In a Harare Suburb, Zimbabwean sculptor, David Ngwerume, is attracting global attention by using stones to create awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To encourage his fellow citizens and the world to wear masks, David Ngwerume has created stunning sculptures. The first and most talked about is called "MJ," named after the late U.S. pop music legend, Michael Jackson, who was often spotted wearing a face mask.