NEW YORK (AP) – About 1 in 3 Americans say they will or will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging if the US hopes to gain herd immunity and defeat the outbreak.
A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research found that while 67% of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15% are confident they will not and 17% say they probably won’t. . Many have expressed doubts about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
The survey suggests that substantial skepticism persists for more than a month and a half in an American vaccination campaign that has experienced few serious side effects, even if it exists. Resistance has proven to be greater among young people, people without a university degree, black Americans and Republicans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease scientist, estimated that somewhere between 70% and 85% of the US population must be inoculated to stop the scourge that killed nearly 470,000 Americans. More recently, he said the spread of more contagious variants of the virus increases the need for more people to take pictures – and fast.
So is 67% of Americans enough?
“No. No, no, no, no,” said William Hanage, a Harvard University expert on disease dynamics. He added: “You will have to get fairly large proportions of the vaccinated population before you see a real effect.”
Nearly 33 million Americans, or about 10 percent of the population, received at least one dose, and 9.8 million were completely vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The survey of 1,055 adults, conducted between January 28 and February 1, offers a perspective on skepticism.
Of those who said they would certainly not receive the vaccine, 65% mentioned concerns about side effects, despite the safety history of photos in recent months. About the same percentage said they do not trust COVID-19 vaccines. And 38% said they don’t think they need a vaccine, with a similar weight saying they don’t know if a COVID-19 vaccine will work and they don’t trust the government.
Of those who are unlikely to receive the vaccine but have not completely ruled it out, 63% said they are waiting to see if it is safe and 60% said they are worried about possible side effects.
“I do not trust pharmaceuticals. Not really. And it doesn’t look like she’ll be safe, “said Debra Nanez, a 67-year-old retired nurse from Tucson, Arizona.
Nanez said she has received flu and pneumonia vaccines, but is worried about rumors about what is in the coronavirus vaccine, and her friends have the same hesitation.
“It would take me a while to do some research on this to make sure it’s safe. I just don’t want to take anything that hurts me, “she said.
Baron Walker, a 42-year-old laid-off plumber from Parkersburg, West Virginia, said he was in the “probably not” column, at least for now.
He said that if he were elderly or living in a densely populated area, he might consider the vaccine more powerful. But he is in rural areas of the country, wearing a mask and distancing himself socially, and he feels there is a good chance the nation will gain immunity from the herd, he said.
“I feel like I have plenty of time before I get a chance to get the (vaccine) anyway, to find out if there are any side effects and if it’s even worth getting,” Walker said.
In interviews, some Americans expressed concern about the revolutionary speed with which vaccines were being developed – less than a year.
“I feel like they’re in a hurry,” Walker said.
This was repeated by Matt Helderman, 31, of Greer, South Carolina.
“I’d like to see more safety data,” said Helderman, a video editor and associate producer for a Christian television program. He also said he would like to see more clarity on whether the vaccine is effective against the new variants.
Health officials are trying to counter the concern about the vaccine with science.
The latest evidence indicates that the two vaccines used in the US – Pfizer and Moderna – are effective even against variants, Fauci said.
Also, while the development of vaccines has been unusually rapid, it has been the culmination of many years of research. The vaccines also went through clinical trials involving thousands of people who were monitored for 60 days after their last dose. Studies on other vaccines have shown that harmful side effects almost always materialize in 45 days.
“Safety has certainly not been compromised, and scientific integrity has not been compromised,” Fauci said. “Many have reason to be skeptical. But I think that when you explain the facts and the data to them, you can win them ”.
The survey found that older Americans, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, are particularly likely to say they received a shot or are likely or likely to be vaccinated. Four out of 10 people under the age of 45 say they will probably or certainly not get a vaccine compared to a quarter of older people.
Black Americans seem less likely than white Americans to say they have received the vaccine or will be vaccinated for sure or probably 57% versus 68%. Among Hispanic Americans, 65% say they have received or intend to receive the vaccine.
Public health experts have long known that some black Americans are distrustful of the medical unit because of its history of abuse, including the infamous Tuskegee study, in which black patients with syphilis were left untreated so doctors could study the disease.
Americans without higher education are more likely than those with higher education to say that they will certainly or probably will not be vaccinated, 40% compared to 17%. And Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that, 44% versus 17%.
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Fingerhut reported from Washington.
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The AP-NORC survey with 1,055 adults was conducted between January 28 and February. 1 using a sample taken from the AmeriSpeak probability-based panel of NORC, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The sampling error margin for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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Online:
AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.
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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. AP is solely responsible for all content.