Referring to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll, Sarah Kllff writes in The New York Times that some unvaccinated adults cite concerns about a surprise bill as a reason for not getting the shot, even though they are advertised as free. “Many of them are accustomed to a health system in which the bills are frequent, large and often unexpected.”

Paul Moser, a 52-year-old gas station cashier in New York state, told the Times that he has friends ‘who were surprised by bills for coronavirus tests and worries the same could happen with the vaccine’ and that is the reason he is holding off on getting his shot.

“We were told by the legislators that all the testing was supposed to be free, and then, surprise, it’s $150. I agree it’s important to get vaccinated, but I don’t have a sense of urgency around it,” said Mr Moser.

According to the KFF poll, “a third of unvaccinated adults were unsure whether insurance covered the new vaccine and were concerned they might need to pay for the shot. The concern was especially pronounced among Hispanic and Black survey respondents“.

According to a 2013 study by Lucie Kalousova, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Riverside, “Surprise bills for coronavirus vaccines, tests and other medical care can leave an impression on patients. Americans with medical debt are more likely to skip needed care than people who hold other types of debt, such as outstanding credit card bills or student loans,” writes Sarah Kllff in Times.

“For someone who has incurred medical debt, they may be told by the media and everyone else that the vaccine is cost-free, but they’ve also had this very negative prior encounter with the medical system that has created feelings of mistrust,” told Kalousova to Times.

This is America — your health care is not free. I just feel like that is how the vaccination process is going to go. They’re going to try to capitalize on it.

Elizabeth Drummond, a 42-year-old unvaccinated mother in Oregon (source: The New York Times)

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Biden’s ‘Vaccine Sprint’

Zeke Miller of Associated Press writes that when Pres. Biden announced Wednesday “month of action” to urge more Americans to get vaccinated before the July 4 holiday, “including an early summer sprint of incentives and a slew of new steps to ease barriers and make getting shots more appealing to those who haven’t received them”.

“The more people we get vaccinated, the more success we’re going to have in the fight against this virus. America will soon experience ‘a summer of freedom, a summer of joy, a summer of get togethers and celebrations. An All-American summer’.”

Pres. Biden at The White House (source: Associated Press).

“All over the world people are desperate to get a shot that every American can get at their neighborhood drugstore,” Pres. Biden said.