"If 354,216 people have at least one vaccine and that equals 58.4 Percent of the over 12 population, how many people haven't been vaccinated?"

 Here are the numbers and percentages of Alaskans over 12 who have gotten one and two COVID vaccine shots.  

People are offering many different ways to convince the unvaccinated to change their status:

• logic and scientific studies
• emotional appeals about their relatives or how Trump and McConnell have gotten vaccinated
• monetary incentives
• appeals by celebrities

So here's another approach - test their math ability.  Below is the vaccination dashboard for Alaska that was put up today.

Some questions to ask:

1. How many people in the one+ vaccination number (354,216) are also counted in the number of  people in the fully vaccinated number (319,920)?
2. How many people in the one+ vaccination number (354,216) need to get a second shot?
3. What percent of people have gotten one or more shots?
4. What is the total population the State is using of 12 years and over?
5. What percent of people have gotten no shots at all?
6. How many people is that?

Humility is a virtue that can be taught fairly easily.  Just give people some fairly basic question that they should be able to answer but they can't.  I used to ask income graduate students question about the Anchorage and the Alaska operating budgets, about the five most populous and five largest (by area) countries in the world, and how many acres Potter Marsh is.  The point of this was that most people talk about budgets, about world politics, and about acres without really know what they are talking about at all.  Not being able to answer those questions was a good starting point of a graduate program.  

So let's try that out with the vaccine and mask resisters.  (Though I realize my graduate students were more likely to confront their lack of knowledge than the resisters are.)

If the unvaccinated  can't figure out these relatively easy questions, point out that nevertheless  they think they are smarter than the scientists who have created the vaccines, monitor them, and keep all these numbers.

Answer key:  (I suspect that a lot of folks who did get shots also might have problems with these.  I also suspect most high school students do better on this quiz than most adults.)

Question 1:  Wednesday, fully vaccinated was 52.6% (52.7% today) and partially vaccinated was 58.1% (58.4% today).  If you think about it, you realize that all the fully vaccinated increase has to be from people in the partially vaccinated category who go their second shots.  In fact everyone in the two shot category is also listed in the one+ shot category.  Any one who misses this one is in serious trouble.  

Question 2:  Since everyone in the two dose category is also in the one dose category, you just have to subtract the two dose number from the one dose number.  354,216 - 319,920 = 34,296 people who only have had one shot.  As these folks get their second shot, the fully vaccinated number goes up. But that also assumes that all the second shots were recorded correctly.  

Question 3:  This is the "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb" question.  It's on the chart and labeled as such.  If people miss this question, they shouldn't be allowed to vote, because . . . OK, I know, literacy tests to vote were prohibited because they were set up to keep Black folks from voting.  But it sure is tempting to have some fairly basic questions for all voters.  After all, immigrants to the USA have to pass the Citizenship exam before they can vote.  

Question 4:  This one is slightly trickier than the other three. 

58.4%  of the total population equals 354,216.  But what's the total population?  Going to Google is tricky because there are lots of different estimates of the population at different times.  But even if you got the same one the State uses, most of them break things down by different age categories:  under five or over 18, but not by 12 and over.  So you're left with algebra.  

58.4%*X= 354,216. (X equals total population) If you're having trouble with that, the Khan Academy can help you out.   

If I got my own math right, the population over 12 that they're using comes to 606,534.   

Question 5:  If 58.4% have gotten at least one vaccination, we just subtract that number from . . . 

100%, of course.  That gives us 41.6%

Question 6:  Then calculating 41.6% of the total 12 and over population gives us the number of unvaccinated adults, which comes to 252,318.  

So, if you know anyone in that group of 252,318, remind them they need to get vaccinated.  If they give you guff about how dangerous the vaccine is or how the virus isn't dangerous, ask them to answer the six questions above.   

If they can't do those simple calculations, ask them how they can evaluate the danger of the vaccine versus the danger of the virus?

[This is when I wish I had an editor to double check my post.  But I have readers who can let me know if I got everything right.]