Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Biden’s Illinois job approval rating is 51-38 with 11 percent unsure

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Public Policy Polling survey of 700 Illinois registered voters taken April 28-29…

Do you approve or disapprove of President Joe Biden’s job performance?

Approve 51%
Disapprove 38%
Not sure 11%

Lots of unsures. Interesting. Click here to see the xtabs. Even 10 percent of Biden voters and 8 percent of Democrats are unsure about his job performance, while 20 percent of independents, 17 percent aged 18-45 and 15 percent with a high school diploma or less are also unsure.

* The poll was conducted for Personal PAC. More questions…

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Abortion should remain legal in Illinois as a private decision between a woman and her doctor, not politicians?

Agree 73%
Disagree 22%
Not sure 5%

Most young women live in supportive and loving homes, but an Illinois law forces a small number of other young women who live in homes where there is violence and sexual assault, to tell a violent parent she needs an abortion. Do you support this law that forces young women to tell their parents they need an abortion, or do you think it should be repealed?

Support this law that forces young women to tell their parents they need an abortion 29%
Think it should be repealed 46%
Not sure 25%

If your State Senator or State Representative voted to keep in place the law that forces
young women to tell their parents they need an abortion, would that make you less likely or more likely to vote for them next time, or
would it not make a difference in your vote?

Less likely 38%
More likely 20%
It wouldn’t make a difference 23%
Not sure 19%

It’s all in how you ask the questions and how you present them.

* For instance, here’s a poll of 600 registered Illinois voters taken Mar 7-10 by the Tarrance Group…

How concerned would you say you are that the government is taking away too many rights from parents and preventing parents from raising their children in an appropriate way?

Would you say this issue is extremely, very, somewhat, or not at all important to you?

Extremely 26%
Very 19%
Somewhat 22%
Not At All 28%
UNSURE (DNR) 5%

[…] Do you consider yourself to be

Pro-life/strongly 31%
Pro-life 6%
UNSURE/REFUSED (DNR) 4%
NEITHER (DNR) 4%
Pro-choice 11%
Pro-choice/strongly 44%

If a minor under age 18 is seeking an abortion, do you think the law should require her parent or guardian to be notified before the procedure?

Yes/strongly 56%
Yes 16%
UNSURE (DNR) 6%
No 6%
No/strongly 16%

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“Rural populations are just not coming out to get vaccinated”

Tuesday, Apr 20, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Tribune looks at differences in vaccine use between the Downstate and the Chicago areas…

One way to look at the situation is to measure the average number of doses on hand each day, compared to the average daily number of residents getting vaccinated. That formula shows three regions — West-Central, Metro East and South — have enough doses to vaccinate their residents, at their current paces, for more than three weeks.

Near Chicago, inventory levels are far smaller. IDPH doesn’t track the city of Chicago’s inventory, but for the four regions that encompass the suburbs, supply levels have lingered at 10 days or less.

The shortest supply can be found in the region that combines Lake and McHenry counties, which had on hand a supply good for barely four days’ worth of vaccinations.

Mark Pfister, director of Lake County’s health department, told the Tribune last week that his Lake County department has no trouble still filling up all appointment slots at clinics it runs. It also cannot keep up with all of the physicians and pharmacists vying for the doses provided by IDPH.

10 days isn’t bad. Four days, however, is way too tight. As we’ve already discussed, the state has changed the way it’s distributing the vaccines to deal with these regional differences.

More stuff in that Trib story, so click here.

…Adding… The governor’s office says the Tribune story is based only on one sort of distriction, via local health departments. There are, of course, several other dose sources, including mass vaccination sites, the federal government (to pharmacies), state strike teams, etc.

* WSIL…

For the Southern Seven Health Department, the average population for completely vaccinated adults is about 18.3%.

The average across Illinois is 25%.

“That shows you how much of a lag there is between the state average for fully vaccinated, and Southern Seven’s fully vaccinated average. And that is just because we don’t have people coming out to get vaccinated,” said Nathan Ryder, the Southern Seven Health Department outreach coordinator.

This trend is showing up not only in Southern Seven counties.

Jackson and Egyptian Health Departments have seen similar issues.

“They’re still seeing strong demand in larger cities and urban areas across the state. But just like many other places across the United States, rural populations are just not coming out to get vaccinated,” said Ryder.

* New poll…

Amidst the pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, there has been no change in Americans’ likelihood to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

* Currently, 20% say they are not at all likely to get the vaccine, as soon as it’s available to them. This number has remained steady since early January 2021.
* At the same time, the number of American adults that report receiving at least one dose of the vaccine continues to climb (now at 56%).

* Related…

* ‘Quite frustrating’: Dr. Fauci on GOP vaccine hesitancy

* National Guard Unit comes to Aurora COVID-19 vaccination site

* Press Release: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Launches #VaccTogether Campaign as COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Expands

* Study: Single COVID Vaccine Dose Insufficient for Individuals Who Had Mild Cases of Virus

* In recent COVID-19 outbreaks at schools, sports are the frequent culprit

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More like this, please

Monday, Apr 12, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dean Olsen…

With a new nationwide poll showing Republicans three times more likely than Democrats to avoid getting COVID-19 shots, a Central Illinois congressman and loyal member of the GOP said Thursday he wants to reduce vaccine hesitancy regardless of political affiliation.

“I want to encourage everyone that this is safe,” U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said during a visit to the COVID-19 mass-vaccination site operated by the Sangamon County Department of Public Health and Illinois National Guard at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. […]

“Putting a political litmus test on the vaccination process is something that I’m trying to warn against,” Davis said. “We, right now, have to believe in our scientists that actually do the clinical trials and the private-sector ingenuity that has allowed us to get safe and effective vaccines.

“And if you’re worried about the vaccines being safe, I will tell you, I don’t feel a computer chip in my arm, and also, hundreds of thousands of people right here in Central Illinois have safely gotten all three of these vaccines,” Davis said. “It’s safe. It’s effective. Go get it done.”

The latest NPR/Marist poll shows that 46 percent of Republican men say they won’t be vaccinated. That’s in line with its previous polling which had the “No” answer at 49 percent. 40 percent of Donald Trump voters also say they won’t be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, just 22 percent of Black respondents said they wouldn’t take the shot and a mere 9 percent of Democratic women are also refusing the vaxes.

* As NPR points out, we can’t get to herd immunity until more folks like those Republican men are vaccinated. Ironically, many of those same folks were insisting last year that the all-important herd immunity could be reached if the virus was simply allowed to run its course. That argument didn’t hold up so well when more than half a million people died. But now that there’s a real chance to reach herd immunity with vaccines, too many are balking.

More Republican Party leaders need to step up here like Davis did. Some have, but many more need to follow the lead of Black politicos and set a very public example, especially now that positivity rates are on the rise. Effingham County’s positivity rate, for example, is now 7.4 percent, as is McHenry County’s.

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