Story at a glance
- A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 15 percent of Americans said they certainly won’t receive the COVID-19 vaccine and 17 percent said they probably won’t.
- The majority of those who said they will certainly not receive the vaccine, 65 percent, said they were primarily worried about potential side effects and didn’t trust the vaccines were effective.
- The reluctance of a third of Americans to become vaccinated could complicate efforts to rein in the virus in the U.S.
As efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible against the coronavirus ramp up across the nation, a new poll suggests that a third of Americans still plan not to receive the shot.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that while 67 percent of Americans say they plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15 percent said they certainly won’t receive the shot and 17 percent said they probably won’t. The poll surveyed 1,055 adults from Jan. 28 through Feb. 1.
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The majority of those who said they will certainly not receive the vaccine, 65 percent, said they were primarily worried about potential side effects and didn’t trust the vaccines were effective. Of the group who said they will probably not get the vaccine, 63 percent said they are waiting to make sure it is safe and also expressed concern over possible side effects.
Vaccine hesitancy was found to be more prominent among younger people, those without college degrees, Black Americans and Republicans, according to the poll.
The skepticism over the safety of the treatments comes as more than 46 million doses have been administered across the U.S. as of Wednesday, with just a handful of serious side effects reported.
The reluctance of a third of Americans to become vaccinated could complicate efforts to rein in the virus in the U.S. Public health experts have estimated that about 80 percent of the population would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity and stop the virus that has killed more than 470,000 people in the U.S.
The Biden administration is currently accelerating efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible, as federal vaccination centers are in the process of opening across the country and vaccine doses are being sent directly to community health centers and retail pharmacies.
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Published on Feb 10,2021