SAYRE, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf toured a health care system in Bradford County on Wednesday to promote getting the COVID-19 vaccine and talk about people hesitant to get the shots.
Speaking at Guthrie Health's mass vaccination site in Sayre on Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf highlighted two ways to improve the vaccination rate in rural areas—making it more convenient for people and making it more personal.
Gov. Wolf says the state will start to move beyond relying on mass vaccination sites like this one at Guthrie and focus on getting the vaccine into the hands of family doctors and small pharmacies that people trust.
"The only way to overcome hesitancy, I mean there's going to be a small group that just say 'no way,' but a lot of the hesitancy is just people sort of sitting on the fence, and I think to those folks, the special relationships that they have with a pediatrician, a family doctor," Gov. Wolf said.
In regards to that group of people who are not necessarily against the vaccine, just indifferent towards getting it, either because they're young and healthy or already have the antibodies, we asked Gov. Wolf if he worries that telling people to still wear masks and social distance even after they're fully vaccinated will discourage those who are on the fence from getting the shot.
He says he doesn't think so, partly because he predicts many people will continue to wear masks far into the future anyway, pointing to the fact that Pennsylvania had such a mild flu season this year.
"There is sort of a casual, almost an indifference to vaccine. Part of that is because if you're young, not an old man, but I remember when I was young, I was immortal, and you don't realize that actually you're not, so I think that's an issue, but I think also there's just an issue of convenience."
We also asked the governor if there were any specific metrics he was looking at, such as the percentage of the state population that's fully vaccinated, to determine when he'll allow businesses to fully reopen.
"The answer is no, there's not. I don't have any fixed because we don't really know what the right goal is. I think the general idea is somewhere around 65 to 70% of the population getting both doses, two weeks after that, you have herd immunity."
Wolf also said he's continuing to monitor new variants of the disease, which could make the vaccine less effective but will continue to promote vaccinations as the best way to get back to normal.
Bradford County and other counties in the northern tier are lagging behind other counties in the state in vaccination rates.
The governor talked about challenges with getting people the vaccine and getting them to want the vaccine in rural areas.
"I think another big part is convenience. I think the president's view of trying to make sure everyone is within five miles of a provider is going to make a difference. And as we get more supply, we can start doing more things like that," Gov. Wolf said.