Reporters Heather Hollingsworth and Todd Richmond led an effort taking advantage of AP’s national footprint, revealing that COVID-19 vaccine demand is plummeting in much of the country.
Each week, states are told how many vaccine doses are available to them, and they in turn decide how many they want to order from the federal supply. Reporters started hearing anecdotal evidence of states ordering paltry amounts of vaccine in recent weeks, at a time when the Biden administration wants to get 70% of adult Americans vaccinated by July 4. The administration has acknowledged the downward trend and said it would shift surplus doses to meet demand in other states.
So AP reporters nationwide asked governors how many vaccines they were ordering last week. Some states, like Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin, decided to order a fraction of their allocation, as low as 8% of what’s available to them. Other locations, like New York City, Colorado and Maryland, were asking for their full allocation. Hollingsworth, based in Kansas City, Missouri, and Richmond, in Madison, Wisconsin, fleshed out the numbers with examples of widespread vaccine hesitancy around the country, and what states were doing to entice more shots.
The result was a smart mainbar on Saturday that connected the dots in a way that only the AP can, with its 50-statehouse presence. The piece also set the stage for a broader, more advanced data collection effort that the AP will build on in the coming weeks.
Lashauna Gipson waits in the observation area after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a Cedars-Sinai sponsored pop-up vaccine clinic at the Watts-Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, April 28, 2021. California, swimming in vaccine, is in a far different place than it was just weeks ago when simply scoring an appointment was cause for celebration. Now, Los Angeles, San Diego and other populous counties are advertising that anyone can walk in for a shot and the state is texting reminders that plenty of appointments are available.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
At The Howling Wolf, a New Orleans music venue and bar, people receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccine event hosted by Nola Ready, April 13, 2021. People could get a free drink at the bar after being vaccinated. Louisiana is making a full-court press to get shots in arms, with sometimes creative outreach to make it as easy as possible to get vaccinated.
AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
Patients drive through the garage area at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to receive the the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine during Indiana’s first mass vaccination clinic, March 5, 2021. States across the country are dramatically scaling back their COVID-19 vaccine orders as interest in the shots wanes, making the goal of herd immunity elusive.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings