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Autistic adults vaccinate at a high rate

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ASPartOfMe
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10 May 2022, 10:55 am

High Rates of COVID Vaccination Among Adults With Autism

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Adults with autism have high rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and shots, a new study shows.

That's good news, because autistic adults have multiple risk factors for COVID-19 infection and for more severe illness if they contract the disease, the researchers said.

To find out if public health messages about the importance of getting vaccinated have reached adults with autism, the authors sent online surveys to 431 autistic adults in Pennsylvania who had participated in previous research.

The responses were collected between March and August 2021. They showed that about 78% of survey respondents said they had received or intended to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 55% said that they had received at least one dose.

In comparison, 42% of the overall adult population in Pennsylvania had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of the median response date for the survey (April 2, 2021), according to the study. The findings were published in the journal Vaccine.

Among adults with autism, vaccine accepters "were more likely to report increased loneliness during COVID-19, live in more populated counties and in counties won by President Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election," said Koffer Miller. She's director of policy impact with the Drexel Autism Institute Policy and Analytics Center.

"Positive relationships were found between wanting to protect others from COVID-19, concern about getting COVID-19 and trusting the safety of the vaccines," Koffer Miller said in a university news release.

Concern about vaccine safety was common among those who were vaccine hesitant.

The reasons for vaccine acceptance and hesitancy are exactly the same as they are for NT’s. Which begs the questions are autistics more democrat leaning then the general population, or did the survey capture a high number of Democrats? Is there an autistic trait(s) that makes us more accepting of vaccines?


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Joe90
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10 May 2022, 11:07 am

Right, so just because I'm on the spectrum is means I've got physical underlying health diseases that will make me more vulnerable to getting seriously ill and dying from covid. Very reassuring. I better go to see the doctor for a full physical examination because of my death sentence, sorry, I meant Asperger's syndrome.


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ASPartOfMe
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10 May 2022, 11:25 am

Joe90 wrote:
Right, so just because I'm on the spectrum is means I've got physical underlying health diseases that will make me more vulnerable to getting seriously ill and dying from covid. Very reassuring. I better go to see the doctor for a full physical examination because of my death sentence, sorry, I meant Asperger's syndrome.

You got your vaccine. If you have not gotten boosted do so. That is it. Vaccines are the biggest preventer of severe COVID.


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Joe90
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10 May 2022, 12:07 pm

I've had all 3 jabs, but the point is I was just as vulnerable as an 80-year-old with underlying health problems and I didn't even know it, just because I'm on the spectrum.


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LisaM1031
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10 May 2022, 12:16 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
High Rates of COVID Vaccination Among Adults With Autism
Quote:
Adults with autism have high rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and shots, a new study shows.

That's good news, because autistic adults have multiple risk factors for COVID-19 infection and for more severe illness if they contract the disease, the researchers said.

To find out if public health messages about the importance of getting vaccinated have reached adults with autism, the authors sent online surveys to 431 autistic adults in Pennsylvania who had participated in previous research.

The responses were collected between March and August 2021. They showed that about 78% of survey respondents said they had received or intended to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 55% said that they had received at least one dose.

In comparison, 42% of the overall adult population in Pennsylvania had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of the median response date for the survey (April 2, 2021), according to the study. The findings were published in the journal Vaccine.

Among adults with autism, vaccine accepters "were more likely to report increased loneliness during COVID-19, live in more populated counties and in counties won by President Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election," said Koffer Miller. She's director of policy impact with the Drexel Autism Institute Policy and Analytics Center.

"Positive relationships were found between wanting to protect others from COVID-19, concern about getting COVID-19 and trusting the safety of the vaccines," Koffer Miller said in a university news release.

Concern about vaccine safety was common among those who were vaccine hesitant.

The reasons for vaccine acceptance and hesitancy are exactly the same as they are for NT’s. Which begs the questions are autistics more democrat leaning then the general population, or did the survey capture a high number of Democrats? Is there an autistic trait(s) that makes us more accepting of vaccines?


Not sure about the reasons it could be that the survey just captured more democrats. A lot of media sources seem to be a bit biased IMO. I’m not sure about autistics being more accepting of vaccines as a whole since I don’t know enough ASDers to really draw any conclusions. I got the first two after going through all the pros and cons in my head and weighing the risk (some ASDers might be similar here). I never got a third because I got pregnant and also caught the omicron variant which is sort of a natural immunity. I’m also not sure about autistics having more adverse outcomes or what the reason for this would be. I’ve always been fairly robust health wise.



Radish
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10 May 2022, 1:06 pm

Two possible causes. 1. We are more logical and see the importance of getting vaccinated and can see through all the misinformation and 2. A number of us may have other health issues which make us more vulnerable so the jab is more important to us.


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rowan_nichol
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10 May 2022, 3:11 pm

Don't understand where any connections to the two major US political parties comes in.



kraftiekortie
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10 May 2022, 3:18 pm

I'm doubly vaccinated, and doubly boosted.

Having Aspergers or autism doesn't automatically make you more vulnerable to the effects of COVID.

I had COVID when a vaccine for COVID was science fiction. I got over it okay.



LisaM1031
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10 May 2022, 3:34 pm

rowan_nichol wrote:
Don't understand where any connections to the two major US political parties comes in.


I don’t know where you’re from but it’s very much politicized in the US. I’m not speaking for everyone in either party, but there is a subset of democrats who will criticize anyone who questions the mainstream media for not “following the science” and live in petrified fear of Covid as if it’s worse than the Black Death. Then on the other extreme, you have those who refuse to be vaccinated because they feel the government is trying to control them and refuse the shots in the name of “freedom”. These tend to be right wingers. Some still believe that Covid never existed, which is absolutely astounding to me.



kraftiekortie
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10 May 2022, 3:46 pm

COVID was a real scourge in NYC around March and April, 2000. About 20,000 people died in NYC within about a month (or perhaps even less than a month).

I know someone who passed away, and had to wait a month to get cremated after that someone's ceremony. He didn't die from COVID.

Right now, because of vaccination, it's not as much of a "scourge." Hospitalizations and deaths are way down from what it was about four months ago.



Joe90
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10 May 2022, 3:54 pm

Most NTs that I know had the vaccine before me.

I think the highest vaccine rate was among the elderly population because most of them all had it without hesitation.

I don't think this study is really realistic.

I only had it done because I thought my freedom might be affected if I didn't.


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kraftiekortie
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10 May 2022, 3:58 pm

I'm glad you got vaccinated.

It's been pretty well scientifically proven that being vaccinated, especially fully vaccinated and boosted, prevents severe COVID. The present "sub-variant" has not had the effect of the original Omicron. About 6,000 people were hospitalized in NYC in January 2022. Nowadays, slightly more than 600 people are now hospitalized, even though there's been a considerable increase in COVID cases over the past 6 weeks or so. The amount who are in the ICU has only gone up about 15 people in that time.

More old people got vaccinated-----because old people were the first ones to be eligible for vaccination. I'm 61 years old, and I wasn't eligible until maybe a month after vaccination started.



Last edited by kraftiekortie on 10 May 2022, 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fenn
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10 May 2022, 3:59 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
I had COVID when a vaccine for COVID was science fiction.


Wait, does that mean you are saying that now it is not? :lol:


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10 May 2022, 4:00 pm

How do autistic adults have increased rates of complications from covid? Reading between the lines it seems they're only including higher functioning autistics too.

Makes no sense. Though I have to admit. High functioning autistics certainly take less pride in their health I guess.



kraftiekortie
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10 May 2022, 4:03 pm

Pretty much :wink:

Seriously, I wish they worked like polio vaccines----but in point of fact, they work more like flu vaccines. That is a bummer!



Fenn
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10 May 2022, 4:11 pm

rowan_nichol wrote:
Don't understand where any connections to the two major US political parties comes in.


In the US the virus showed up under President Trump, and the vaccine didn't become available to the public until after President Biden took office. In between was an election and heated debate, lots of mud slinging and further polarization of left-wing (Democratic) and right-wing (Republican). Mr. Trump's response to the virus was a hot and much contested point.

As a partial result some people decided to believe anything they thought the Republicans were saying and disbelieve anything they thought the Democrats were saying. Others took the reverse position. Imagine how people argue about sports sometimes. Facts don't figure in as much as loyalty to "my team".

My opinion: both parties have their fair share of liars and are willing to do anything for political power. Many Americans just picked one side and decided all the liars MUST be on the other side. And as strange as it might seem: people really did decide whether to get the vaccine or not based on this. TRUST is at an all time low. And people feel just as strong about it as that fellow down at the pub does about his favorite team - stronger.


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Last edited by Fenn on 10 May 2022, 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.