Here are the top concerns Sedgwick County residents have about the COVID-19 vaccine

The results of a new survey conducted by the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita has outlined the biggest concerns Sedgwick County residents have about taking a COVID-19 vaccine.

Listed by order of the amount of concern, the Top 5 “moderate/extreme” vaccine concerns were:

• Long-term side effects
• Not safe
• Risk outweighs the benefit
• Short-term side effects (arm pain/soreness and feeling unwell in the days after the shot)
• Vaccine is ineffective

Some people even listed the vaccine being too expensive as a “moderate/extreme” concern, but the vaccine is offered at no cost. That answer underscores some of the problems around vaccine hesitancy that Sedgwick County officials hope to dispel.

Dr. Elizabeth Ablah, with the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, told the Sedgwick County Commission during a presentation Wednesday that county officials have already started to act on survey results that were shared with them last week. Those efforts include having vaccination clinics at gatherings and sending out information on vaccination locations.

The survey was filled out by 3,333 people across seven-area counties from April 29 to May 21.

“Take a lot of this with a grain of salt, but also there are some useful findings here,” she told commissioners.

Seventy-seven percent of people surveyed identified as female and 94% reported being non-Hispanic and white. Forty-three percent of the people surveyed were 50 or older, and 36% were between the ages of 35 to 49.

In Sedgwick County, 2,614 people took the survey and 80% of them reported being vaccinated, while 14% said they would not get the vaccine and 6% said they either plan to or may get the vaccine.

That 80% is more than the 65% percent of Sedgwick County residents who said they would get the vaccine during the first survey conducted by the same group between November and December.

During the second survey, 16% of the Sedgwick County residents reported being “extremely concerned” about getting the virus and, on the far other end, 20% said they were not at all concerned.

One of the top themes among people who said they wouldn’t get the vaccine was that the virus is not that bad.

“That really is a misnomer,” Ablah said. “We’re really needing folks to understand that this is not just a passing cold or flu, that this really is much more severe in many cases and we can’t always predict when it is going to be severe for someone.”

Respondents were asked what would make them more likely to get a vaccine. Respondents answer that by saying being able to walk in versus having to make an appointment and having the vaccine available at work were the two top answers, and knowing where to go for a vaccine was third.

Among the Sedgwick County residents, 1,590 mentioned having children under the age of 16. Of those, 66% said they would “definitely” or “probably” would have their children get the vaccine.

A vaccine is currently available to anyone 12 and older.

Sedgwick County, which has a population of around 516,000 people, has more than 172,800 people ages 12 and older who have completed their vaccine process, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Sedgwick County has had 57,856 COVID-19 cases and 786 deaths, the KDHE reported.

This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 1:56 PM.