WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester’s Department of Public Health wants to know why people have or haven’t gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.
A new survey invites Worcester residents to voice their opinions. It asks people questions including if they've learned information about COVID-19 or the vaccine which caused them to not get vaccinated and if the health department could do anything to help people feel comfortable with receiving the vaccine.
"There is more push back on vaccinations than there has been in the past, which is a really unfortunate side effect of the way that vaccines were pushed out or made available, and a lingering mistrust from that process or those messages that were reaching communities” said acting director of public health Zach Dyer. “So there is a lot of work that we need to do to make sure people are healthy and protected against not just COVID but a lot of other illnesses that are out there."
Dyer said less than 2% of Worcester residents have received the Bivalent booster and 11% have received a second booster, which at this point is recommended for everyone. He recommended everyone get the vaccine before the holiday season, where an increase in cases is possible.