FAIRBANKS, Ak. — When vaccines rolled out across the country, getting shots to families in rural communities took extra time and coordination.

In Alaska, pharmacists have had to fly small planes and use sled dogs to deliver thousands of doses.

We visited Alaskan pharmacist Dan Nelson in Fairbanks months ago as vaccines first rolled out across the country.

He works for the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a group representing Alaska Native and American Indian tribes across Alaska’s interior. He said the initial vaccine rollout was very successful and made an impact on the lives of thousands.

“While we are not able to completely eliminate COVID or prevent COVID from happening out in rural areas, we were able to prevent a lot of hospitalizations and unnecessary deaths,” said Nelson. “So, I think that's something that we're probably most proud of here.”

However, he said, his community is still facing many challenges in controlling the virus.

“We really got hit hard by delta,” said Nelson. “Our rate of death from COVID for Alaska Natives is basically double the non-Native population. It was absolutely a scary time and not fun. I think with the omicron variant, I think that honestly, there's some complacency in the community, and I think that's something that we're needing to deal with.”

Just months ago, there was a very high demand for the shots. Today, that demand has decreased dramatically.

“All the vaccine hesitancy, and just I don't even think that captures the attitude, the outright resistance and kind of misinformation and stuff is absolutely a struggle that…it's not unique to Alaska,” said Nelson.

Nelson said the vaccine resistance across Alaska pushed his hospital to a breaking point: for a time, they ran out of antibody treatments.

“We often saw people that refuse to get vaccinated, but that was the first thing that they went to. Once they got COVID, it was, ‘I want the monoclonal,’ so that was kind of a disheartening setup because it was, really, we could have done an ounce of prevention rather than a pound of cure.”

He said he has been thankful that those hardest to reach have been more eager to get the shots.

“In most of our rural areas, it's over 70% vaccinated. Our numbers are quite a bit lower for the booster doses. The fact that I can go out to those villages now and just really be able to give people a hug and not worry about it, and then embrace them, and vice versa, I think, is just such a rewarding experience.”

When vaccines first became available, there was much excitement throughout the Tanana Chiefs Conference and the communities they serve. Yet, Nelson said he struggles to maintain hopefulness as 2021 ends and 2022 begins.

“I'll just be totally honest with you. I have not felt that way over the entire last year,” said Nelson. “I do think that overall, it's a positive outlook, and I think that we're looking at the upswing. I'd just like to hopefully get back to a place where people trust and believe their pharmacists and their doctors and nurses. Winning that war will be the most important thing and getting the upper hand against the virus.”

As the delta variant surges across the country, the calls for Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are growing louder —  and more Republicans are joining in. 

"I would encourage people to get the vaccine. I have high confidence in it. I got it myself," said House Republican Whip Steve Scalise. 

"This is not complicated; 97% of the people who are in the hospital now for COVID are unvaccinated. So if there's anybody out there willing to listen: Get vaccinated," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week. 

Nationwide, vaccination rates among conservatives have lagged behind liberals, and that includes members of Congress.

While 100% of Democrats on the Hill say they’ve been vaccinated, it's unclear how many Republicans can say the same. And there have been several breakout cases among vaccinated Capitol employees, including one lawmaker. 

High-profile conservative media personalities have also made appeals to their viewers in recent days.

"And it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination," said Fox News host Sean Hannity. 

But not all Republicans are putting the same emphasis on their vaccine message. During a Thursday press conference, a group of Republican doctors spent more time focused on the origins of the virus, and they stopped short of issuing a full-throated recommendation for everyone to get vaccinated.   

"Vaccine is a medicine. And just like any other medicine, there are side effects and this is a personal decision. This is not a mandate. This should not come down from the government saying you have to have something because there can be some side effects," said Rep. Greg Murphy.

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, who had COVID-19, just got his first vaccine dose on July 18.

"I had done the antibody test months ago, and it tested positive for the antibodies. And clearly that gives you protection, but with the delta variant I felt I wanted that extra level of protection," said Scalise. 

CDC data shows nearly 162 million Americans are fully vaccinated. But that's only about 57% of people over 12 years old — the population that's eligible to get the vaccine.

Many of the states with the lowest vaccination rates are the ones currently experiencing the highest levels of community spread.   

This story originally reported by Stephanie Liebergen on Newsy.com.

For several months, it's been clear that a person's political views will heavily influence their decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Polling has shown that those who identify as Democrats are much more likely to seek out a vaccine compared to those who identify as Republicans.

However, a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that the political divide in vaccination rates is growing.

Back in April, the organization found that counties that went for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election were slightly outpacing counties that went for Donald Trump when it came to vaccinations. At the time, blue counties had vaccinated about 23% of people, while red counties had vaccinated 21% of people.

However, by July 6, that gap had grown significantly. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that countries that went for Biden have now vaccinated 47% of their population, while countries that went for Trump have only vaccinated 35% of their population.

The increase of the partisan vaccine gap from 2% to nearly 12% means that the U.S. is hurtling toward a reality where swaths of the country will remain at risk for COVID-19, especially as the dangerous delta variant continues to spread.

Kaiser Family Foundation

In an interview with CNN last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that if such disparities continue to grow, under-vaccinated areas could see surges in cases that could overwhelm health resources.

"You're going to have areas where the vaccination rate is high, where there's more than 70% of the population, as we see, with at least one dose. When you compare that to areas where you have, say, 35% of the people vaccinated, you clearly have a high risk of seeing spikes in these selective areas," Fauci said in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon.

"The thing that's so frustrating about this, Don, is that this is entirely avoidable, entirely preventable," he added. "If you are vaccinated, you diminish dramatically your risk of getting infected, and even more dramatically your risk of getting seriously ill. If you are not vaccinated, you are at considerable risk."

According to a June poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov, 29% of Republicans surveyed said they did not intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 5% of Democrats and 21% of independents.

Though the CDC has said that COVID-19 vaccines are proven to be safe and highly effective, the top reasons for not getting vaccinated, according to the CBS News/YouGov poll, include:

• Concerns that the vaccine had not been tested enough
• Side effects
• Distrust of the government
• Distrust of scientists and drug companies

Related video above: UW Health doctor talks about combating vaccine hesitancy

Destiny Britt has given the COVID-19 vaccine a lot of thought and has no plans to get vaccinated anytime soon.

"Don't take it as when people don't want to take the vaccine as being rebellious," she said.

The 21-year Atlanta native is skeptical of the vaccines thanks in large part due to the legacy of Tuskegee syphilis study, she said. Yet, some experts say this isn't the only reason why some younger people may still be hesitant months after the vaccines became available.

Despite the research she's done, Britt worries about the potential rare side effects of the vaccines, like myocarditis a condition that causes inflammation of the heart.

"But how do I know that that small percentage won't be me?" she asks.

Britt's continued distrust comes as COVID-19 deaths have fallen dramatically across the United States. Average daily deaths are less than a tenth of what they were at the peak of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University -- but nearly 300 people are still dying of COVID-19 each day in the US.

Yet, people who died of COVID-19 in May were younger and more disproportionately Black than those who had died of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, a CNN analysis of CDC data shows. And Americans who are still dying of COVID-19 are "overwhelmingly" unvaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper last week.

Generally, vaccine coverage among young adults has been lower and increasing more slowly over time, compared to other age groups, according to a report published recently by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their intent to get vaccinated is also lower. If the weekly pace of vaccinations continues at the rate from the week of May 22, only 57.5% of people under the age of 30 will have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of August.

The CDC report shows the weekly rate of newly vaccinated adults drop 18-29 years old have slowed from 3.6% to 2%. The CDC director says of the 20 million young people who've been vaccinated there have only been about 300 reported cases, which is just .002%.

Britt, who works at an Atlanta record label, says she doesn't trust the vaccine and instead trusts her own immune system.

"I would just rather go take vitamin C or make sure that I'm eating healthier just to make sure that on my end it'll be better for my body to fight off rather than just taking the vaccination."

Britt asserts that she knows COVID-19 is real and she continues to wear a mask at work and around friends and family.

But it's the mindset among younger people like Britt that worries experts.

"Chances are you're not going to get that sick. However, even individuals with mild illness could have long-lasting symptoms, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said.

"There are people who have lost their hair, people who continue to have loss of the sense of taste or smell. Individuals who have difficulty concentrating memory, lapses, nerve and muscle pain," she said.

CDC researchers met last week to discuss the very rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis that have been reported among mostly young men and teens, who've been recently vaccinated.

They concluded that the benefits of the mRNA vaccines far outweigh the risks. Wen explained that even if you get myocarditis, chances are you will recover from it within days versus if you get COVID-19 you could get very ill and have long-lasting consequences.

"There is this pervasive narrative that somehow young people don't get sick and don't die from coronavirus, which is just not true," she said.

Wen has taken care of young people who have difficulty with concentrating, with chronic fatigue and even walking down the block because they have had COVID-19.

Stepping up outreach efforts

Britt lives in Georgia -- a state with some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country and where COVID-19 deaths were among the highest just last week.

As the White House partners with organizations and private companies to incentivize adults under 30 to get vaccinated, some corporations like Axe, a mens' grooming company, are holding events at places like the Atlanta brewery to lure in younger people.

Black people are the most undervaccinated racial or ethnic group in the U.S. More than 45% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but coverage among Black people is less than half of that, at about 22%.

"These lower rates may be due in part, to vaccine hesitancy, but they may also be due to inequities in vaccine access," Dr. Lisa Cooper, founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, told CNN. "Many African Americans in the South live in rural areas with limited access to health care facilities. Furthermore, many people may have other stressors related to housing, food, or job insecurity, which may be preventing them from getting vaccinated."

Julius Thomas is the CEO and founder of the nonprofit, "The People's Uprising," and Britt's friend. She also volunteers with the group.

Ironically, the nonprofit is planning on holding vaccine drives this month to target people like Britt.

"Go to skating rinks, go to top golf or places like the beltline where you know young people congregate," Thomas said.

Thomas hopes Britt will eventually come around.

"We really are pushing that hard because we care about you that hard," he said.

But Britt is steadfast in her skepticism.

Although she knows the Black community continues to die of COVID-19 at a higher rate than any other group, she says there's no telling if and when she may ever get vaccinated.

"I just need to make sure that it's been around for some time where I know specifically what the side effects are."