NEW YORK (AP) – About 1 in three Americans say they will definitely or probably not get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging news if the United States hopes to get herd immunity and beat the outbreak.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey found that while 67% of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15% are sure not and 17% say they probably do. no. Many 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 a vaccination campaign in the United States that has experienced few serious side effects. It was found that resistance was increasing among the youngest, people without college degrees, black Americans, and Republicans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading scientist on infectious diseases, has estimated that between 70% and 85% of the American population needs to be inoculated to stop the scourge that has 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 their shots and quickly.
So is 67% of Americans enough?
“No. No, no, no, no,” said William Hanage, an expert in disease dynamics at Harvard University. He added: “You will have to vaccinate fairly large proportions of the vaccinated population before you see a real effect.”
Nearly 33 million Americans, or about 10 percent of the population, have received at least one dose and 9.8 million have been completely vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 1,055 adult survey, conducted from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1, provides information on skepticism.
Of those who said they would definitely not get the vaccine, 65% cited concerns about side effects, despite the safety record of shots in recent months. Approximately 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 share 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 get 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 concerned about possible side effects.
“I don’t trust pharmaceuticals. Not really. And it doesn’t look safe, ”said Debra Nanez, a 67-year-old retired nurse from Tucson, Arizona.
Nanez said he received flu and pneumonia shots, but is concerned about rumors about what is in the coronavirus vaccine and his friends have the same hesitation.
“I would spend some time researching it to make sure it was safe. I just don’t want to take anything that hurts me, ”he said.
Baron Walker, a 42-year-old laid-off insulation installer from Parkersburg, West Virginia, said he is on the “probably not” column, at least for now.
He said if he was older or lived in a densely populated area, he could consider the vaccine more strongly. But he is in the country’s countryside, wearing a mask and walking away socially and feeling that there is a good chance the nation will get immunity from the herd, he said.
“I feel like I have a long time before I get a chance to get (the vaccine) anyway, to find out if there are any bad 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 away.
“I feel like they rushed it,” Walker said.
This was echoed by Matt Helderman, 31, of Greer, South Carolina.
“I’d like to see more security data,” said Helderman, video editor and associate producer of a Christian TV show. He also said he would like to see more clarity on whether the vaccine is effective against new variants.
Health officials are trying to counter the concerns about the vaccine with science.
Recent evidence indicates that the two vaccines used in the United States, Pfizer and Moderna, are effective even against variants, Fauci said.
In addition, although the development of vaccines was unusually rapid, it was the culmination of many years of research. And the vaccines went through clinical trials with thousands of people who were monitored for 60 days after their last dose. Studies of other vaccines have shown that harmful side effects almost always materialize in 45 days.
“Security was certainly not compromised nor was scientific integrity compromised,” Fauci said. “Many have reason to be skeptical. But I think when you tell them the facts and the data you can win them over. “
The survey found that older Americans, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, are especially likely to say they have been shot or that they will probably or definitely get vaccinated. Four out of ten children under the age of 45 say they will probably or definitely not get a vaccine, compared to a quarter of adults.
Black Americans seem less likely than white Americans to say they have been shot or that they will definitely or probably get vaccinated, 57% versus 68%. Among Hispanics, 65% say they got the vaccine or planned it.
Public health experts have long known that some black Americans distrust the medical establishment because of its history of abuse, including the famous Tuskegee study, in which black patients with syphilis were not treated because the doctors could study the disease.
Americans without a college degree are more likely than college students to say they will definitely or probably not get vaccinated, 40 percent versus 17 percent. 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 of 1,055 adults was conducted from January 28 to February. 1 using a sample extracted from the AmeriSpeak panel based on NORC probabilities, designed to be representative of the American population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is approximately 3.8 percentage points.
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AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.