{"id":43562,"date":"2021-11-25T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-mesa-county-covid-surge-is-met-with-conservative-distrust\/"},"modified":"2021-11-25T19:15:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T19:15:00","slug":"in-mesa-county-covid-surge-is-met-with-conservative-distrust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/in-mesa-county-covid-surge-is-met-with-conservative-distrust\/","title":{"rendered":"In Mesa County, COVID surge is met with conservative distrust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hart
Hart Van Denburg\/CPR NewsSigns promoting coronavirus public safety and COVID-19 vaccinations outside the Mesa County Public Health offices on Thursday, Aug. 26.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Mesa County GOP head Kevin McCarney knows how dangerous the coronavirus can be; he\u2019s had a couple friends with serious bouts. One of them just got out of the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was on a ventilator, had to have a tracheotomy and everything,\u201d McCarney, 60, said. \u201cSo I know it\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McCarney, who\u2019s one of the main political players in this deep red region, doesn\u2019t like the official response to the pandemic. He wants people to return to a sense of normalcy, and he\u2019s skeptical of the medical establishment. He thinks the focus on vaccines is largely driven by the pharmaceutical industry, out to make money, he thinks that officials are overlooking other approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always joke that I rattle when I walk, from all the supplements I\u2019m taking,\u201d McCarney said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had a flu vaccine, I try to take care of myself\u2026 and keep my immune system up, because that\u2019s the secret to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health officials urge people to get vaccinated not only to protect themselves, but to prevent the continuing spread of the coronavirus. Around 80 percent of Coloradans over age 12 have received at least one vaccine dose. But in Mesa County, the rate is much lower; only around half of the eligible population is vaccinated.<\/p>\n

At the same time, COVID rates have soared in Mesa County, 21 people there have died of the disease in the past two weeks. And hospitals in the area are at or near capacity, with about 96 percent of ICU beds full. According to the local public health agency 82 percent of the COVID patients in those beds are unvaccinated.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin
Kevin McCarney, chairman of the Mesa County Republican Party, at the county party headquarters in Grand Junction.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But McCarney is suspicious of the idea that Mesa County\u2019s hospitals are filling up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think sometimes we get exaggerated numbers (for) hospital capacity,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s more people in the hospital, maybe because of flu, which, you know, nobody wants to report the numbers of that because we\u2019re all focused on one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to emailed questions from CPR News St. Mary\u2019s Medical Center in Grand Junction said the hospital has a surge plan in place if it becomes necessary to increase capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike many hospitals across Colorado St. Mary\u2019s Medical Center is seeing an increase in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and we are seeing an increase in patients seeking treatment who have greater health challenges due to delaying care,\u201d wrote a representative from the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team has done an outstanding job to care for our COVID-19 patients and other patients who need our care throughout our response efforts. The ask of our community remains the same. Please be proactive about helping us to ensure hospital beds are open to those in our community who need them.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, this distrust of hospital numbers also came up in interviews with other Republicans in Mesa County, both elected officials and active party members.<\/p>\n

\"Hart
Hart Van Denburg\/CPR NewsNova Tucker of Grand Junction is the vice-chair of a group called Stand for the Constitution, and worked for conservative candidates who won seats in recent school board elections.<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThey\u2019re saying that our hospitals are at capacity. They\u2019re not at capacity; they\u2019re understaffed. They were understaffed before COVID,\u201d said Nova Tucker, a political activist.<\/p>\n

Tucker is a staunch opponent of vaccine mandates and feels the entire pandemic situation from the start has been government overreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, the government\u2019s not responsible for my health,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re responsible to guard my freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mesa county commissioner Cody Davis has been one of the few local Republicans to strongly encourage vaccination, even getting his vaccine dose live on local television. He said he is concerned that the county\u2019s hospitals are full in part because it makes people fearful and might keep visitors away, and he hopes more people do get the vaccine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people should absolutely consider doing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it slows the spread for sure and it creates the public health that we need. That being said, I think it should always be a person\u2019s right to choose whether or not they get that vaccine. I think mandates have kind of the unintended consequence of people resisting and losing trust in government and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent survey on unvaccinated people in western Colorado found for many, their views are based on distrust of government. The San Juan Basin Public Health Department commissioned the survey from RBI Strategies. It showed that only one-third of those who responded were open to the idea of getting vaccinated in the future, but still needed more information to be persuaded \u2014 especially about their personal risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cA substantial proportion of participants appear unreachable through either persuasion or mandates. Prescriptive messages should be avoided, as the unvaccinated are highly suspect of attempts to \u2018sell them on the vaccine,\u2019\u201d states some of the findings.<\/p>\n

Amanda Maley with Mesa county public health said the county recently launched an instagram campaign to try to reach unvaccinated people in their 20s.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Mesa county, we do struggle with a low vaccination rate and high case counts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The county continues to run vaccine health clinics and send out health alerts.<\/p>\n

\u201cLetting people know that hospitalizations were increasing. And as we go into this holiday period, where folks have the tendency to gather in larger groups, to really have that layered approach. We\u2019re right at a time where influenza is also going to become a factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for Mesa County Public Health Department officials, hoping to reach those people who are unvaccinated and find a message that will overcome all the doubt and distrust, isn\u2019t easy. And the survey results say public health officials may never persuade many of the unvaccinated, no matter what approach they try.<\/p>\n

For more new from Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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