Young people in Connecticut aren’t getting vaccinated as much as older residents. Why not and what can be done?

Jimarie Morales isn’t ready to get vaccinated against COVID-19 quite yet.

“It’s fear of the long term-effects, not knowing what those long-term effects may be, and then it’s also about being so busy with life itself,” said Morales, a 30-year-old social worker from Willimantic. “[I’m waiting] to see how it works in those people who have who have been vaccinated for a bit.”

Morales says she is leaning toward eventually getting vaccinated, but her reluctance reflects a reality across Connecticut, with residents under age 35 significantly less likely than those in older groups to have received at least one dose.

Earlier in the vaccine rollout, the age disparity in Connecticut’s vaccination numbers owed mostly to the state’s age-based eligibility plan, which allowed older residents to get their shots first. But now, with all adults having been eligible since April 1 and all residents 12 and older having been eligible since mid-May, it’s clear that other factors are driving the trend.

Some young people say they lack urgency to seek a vaccine at a time Connecticut has little COVID-19 transmission. Others may have been scared off by reports of rare side effects. Others may simply fail to see the need for vaccination.

“There is no question that for some of the younger age group, there’s [a thought] that ‘COVID isn’t going to be as serious for me as for others,’” said Dr. Jim Cardon, chief clinical integration officer at Hartford HealthCare. “They just don’t have the same respect for the virus in terms of the illness that it can cause.”

But while COVID-19 typically doesn’t affect young people as gravely as it affects older people, experts say the relatively slow rate of vaccination among younger groups could have broad ramifications as contagious strains like the Delta variant emerge.

“The Delta strain is already starting to spread, and what’s unfortunate about that is we know two doses of the vaccine are highly effective against it,” said Dr. Thomas Murray, an infectious disease specialist at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. “So that is a completely preventable spread.”

As of last week, 60% of Connecticut residents age 25-34 had received at least one vaccine dose, along with 55% of those 18-24, 62% of those 16-17 and only 41% of those 12-15. By comparison, 94% of those 65 and older had been vaccinated, along with 84% of those age 55-64.

This mirrors a wider national trend, in which younger people are considerably less likely to have been vaccinated than older people, imperiling President Joe Biden’s goal that 70% of all Americans have at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by July 4. One poll in March found that more than a quarter of those in Generation Z do not plan to seek a vaccine.

As a result, age has become the latest fault line for COVID-19 vaccination in Connecticut and elsewhere. Already, Black and Latino residents have been less likely to get vaccinated than white residents, while those who live in cities have been less likely to get vaccinated than those in suburbs.

Cardon says young people may be waiting because they assume the virus won’t affect them severely or because Connecticut’s low levels of transmission have created a lack of urgency. In response he tries to emphasize that younger people can get sick from COVID-19 and face higher risk of long-term complications from the disease than they do from the vaccine.

“Although young people did do better than us older folks, we certainly had our fair share of young people who got sick and died from that virus,” he said. “And the variants that are coming through are nasty.”

Murray adds another explanation for relatively low rates of vaccination among young people: misinformation. Sometimes that means beliefs that are entirely untrue or unproven, such as the idea that COVID-19 vaccination affects fertility. Other times it means a disproportionate response to genuine concerns, such as rare blood clotting due to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or myocarditis in some vaccinated young people.

“There certainly does appear to be a small risk of myocarditis associated with the vaccine,” Murray said. “What’s important to do is put that in the context of everything that we know about the virus and all of the risk factors of actually having the infection.”

Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday that the state would soon begin offering incentives for young people to get vaccinated, including “front row seats to some concerts people might want to get to.” In Hartford, where vaccination rates are low citywide, officials announced Tuesday that anyone who gets vaccinated at a designated clinic in the coming days will be eligible for $1,000 or a pack of four Six Flags season passes.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said the 15 to 39 age group has proven the “toughest nut to crack.”

“We’ll be laser-focused on trying to get them to get vaccinated,’' she said.

Connecticut’s health providers say all they can do is continue to make the vaccine widely available, through mobile clinics and outreach efforts. Some officials hope vaccination rates among young people will increase as colleges, events and businesses choose to require vaccination.

At an event held over Instagram on Monday, UConn student government president Mason Holland joined U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy to urge young people to get their shots.

“As young people, yes we may not deal with the most extreme cases, we may not be hospitalized, but there’s always the potential to pass it off to somebody that’s more vulnerable than you,” Holland said. “It’s up to us to be able to protect not only ourselves but other people as well.

Morales, the social worker from Willimantic, said she is leaning toward getting vaccinated eventually, and will likely have her two 10-year-old children vaccinated when they become eligible.

“Just time passing by and seeing how it works in those people who have been vaccinated for a bit,” she said when asked what she’s waiting for. “Just seeing how it all turns out.”

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.