Only half of the public said it would get the coronavirus vaccine, a national poll found.
Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults said they would get the vaccine, while 27% said they are unsure whether they would, and 26% said they would not, a poll released on Monday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed. COVID-19 vaccine distribution is likely to begin in the United States in the coming days.
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The poll surveyed 1,117 people between Dec. 3 and 7 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. Experts estimate at least 70% of the U.S. population needs to get vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.
But amid the rush to eradicate the virus, some are expressing uncertainty over its effects.
“Trepidation is a good word. I have a little bit of trepidation towards it,” Kevin Buck, a 53-year-old retired Marine, said. “I think a lot of people are not sure what to believe, and I’m one of them.”
Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said they were extremely/very or somewhat confident that the coronavirus vaccine will be properly tested for safety and effectiveness when it becomes available. The same percentage was either extremely/very or somewhat confident that it would be distributed quickly and safely.
The survey also displayed a demographic split among those who said they would get the vaccine. Men were significantly more likely to say they would get it than women. Those 60 and older were more likely to say they would get it than those under 59, and white respondents were more likely to say they would get it than black or Hispanic respondents.
“Sometimes, you have to ask people more than once,” John Grabenstein, a retired Army colonel who directed the Defense Department’s immunization program, said. He added that many of those on the fence would decide it’s “far, far better to take this vaccine than run the risk of coronavirus infection.”
