The majority of Americans who have yet to be vaccinated cite one of three reasons: either they are concerned about possible side effects, or they want to wait to see if it is safe, or they think that others would benefit more than themselves from a vaccination. Others cite different reasons.
Nationwide, 16,360,000 people, 6.6% of the adult population, do not trust the COVID-19 vaccines, and another 4,620,000, or 1.9%, are anti-vaccines in general. Additionally, 12,020,000 American adults, or 4.8% of the 18 and older population, have not been vaccinated because they do not trust the government.
In Tennessee, an estimated 871,800 adults, or 16.7%, say they will likely refuse the vaccine. Of all adults in the state, 9.5% will refuse because they do not trust the COVID-19 vaccine specifically, 2.3% because they are against vaccination in general, and 6.8% because they distrust the government.
Perhaps due in part to pockets of resistance, Tennessee is struggling to vaccinate its population rapidly. So far, 38.3% of Tennessee’s population are fully vaccinated, compared to 48.6% of all Americans.
Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 868,738 confirmed cases of the virus in the Tennessee, and a total of 12,583 residents have died as a result.
All survey data used in this story was published by the Census on July 14, 2021. All data related to COVID-19 infections, fatalities, and vaccinations is current as of July 9, 2021.
These are all the counties in Tennessee where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).

State	Share adult pop. of who will likely refuse vaccination	Pop. currently fully vaccinated	Total COVID-19 infections to date	Total COVID-19 deaths to date
Alabama	18.2%	33.3%	553,476	11,391
Alaska	20.3%	44.1%	68,674	370
Arizona	11.2%	44.6%	898,283	18,004
Arkansas	18.5%	34.9%	353,095	5,933
California	5.1%	50.9%	3,721,006	63,259
Colorado	9.7%	53.4%	560,419	6,824
Connecticut	3.2%	61.5%	349,743	8,278
Delaware	8.7%	51.4%	109,900	1,695
Florida	12.2%	47.3%	2,350,730	38,097
Georgia	14.3%	37.5%	1,137,560	21,467
Hawaii	5.2%	52.4%	36,714	515
Idaho	19.5%	37.3%	195,552	2,162
Illinois	9.4%	46.8%	1,394,235	25,733
Indiana	15.7%	43.3%	756,070	13,892
Iowa	13.6%	48.6%	374,381	6,149
Kansas	14.6%	42.6%	319,586	5,166
Kentucky	17.4%	44.3%	466,244	7,250
Louisiana	17.5%	35.6%	485,803	10,765
Maine	13.1%	62.7%	69,192	861
Maryland	7.4%	57.1%	462,835	9,758
Massachusetts	4.8%	62.4%	710,519	18,008
Michigan	12.7%	47.7%	1,001,153	21,036
Minnesota	9.5%	52.9%	606,034	7,708
Mississippi	18.1%	33.2%	323,641	7,437
Missouri	11.1%	39.7%	627,804	9,377
Montana	15.0%	43.7%	114,102	1,671
Nebraska	11.1%	48.3%	225,069	2,262
Nevada	8.4%	43.5%	336,562	5,705
New Hampshire	10.9%	57.3%	99,652	1,374
New Jersey	4.9%	56.1%	1,024,748	26,490
New Mexico	8.3%	55.6%	205,996	4,347
New York	7.9%	54.9%	2,116,107	53,385
North Carolina	9.8%	42.9%	1,016,262	13,460
North Dakota	22.1%	39.4%	110,808	1,530
Ohio	15.0%	45.4%	1,113,006	20,366
Oklahoma	16.7%	39.2%	460,131	7,407
Oregon	10.5%	54.9%	209,764	2,788
Pennsylvania	8.8%	50.5%	1,213,321	27,718
Rhode Island	5.6%	59.9%	152,738	2,730
South Carolina	16.3%	39.9%	598,809	9,857
South Dakota	17.2%	46.1%	124,641	2,039
Tennessee	16.7%	38.3%	868,738	12,583
Texas	12.5%	42.5%	2,997,665	51,384
Utah	11.3%	38.6%	417,653	2,387
Vermont	4.7%	66.1%	22,848	250
Virginia	6.1%	52.9%	681,890	11,441
Washington	9.6%	56.4%	454,068	5,973
West Virginia	21.9%	38.4%	164,346	2,901
Wisconsin	13.6%	50.7%	678,232	8,154
Wyoming	25.7%	35.8%	62,737	751