Poll: 1 in 3 Americans say they would not get coronavirus vaccine if it were ready now
LOS ANGELES - In a poll by Gallup released Friday, as many as one in three Americans said they would not get a vaccine for COVID-19 — even if the vaccine were FDA-approved and free of charge.
According to the poll, 65% of participants said they would and 35% said they would not.
There was a correlation between political party affiliation and those who said that they would take the vaccine, according to Gallup. Republicans were less inclined than Democrats to receive the vaccine, with 47% of Republicans saying they would do so in comparison to 81% of Democrats.
Gender results were equal, as 65% of both females and males said they would receive the coronavirus vaccine.
But age and race did show differences.
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Young and elderly participants of the study were more likely to say they would get the vaccine. Seventy percent of senior citizens and 76% of adults age 18-29 said that they would be vaccinated.
Meanwhile, middle-age groups were more hesitant — only 59% of adults between 50-64 said they would be willing to get vaccinated.
Sixty-seven percent of White Americans said that they would be vaccinated in comparison to 59% of non-White Americans. “This is particularly noteworthy, given media reports on the pandemic noting that Black and Latino Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” Gallup wrote.
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The Gallup poll was released as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the United States. There werenearly 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 160,000 deaths in the U.S. as of Aug. 7.
Experts and scientists — including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — said that they are hopeful a vaccine will be available by early 2021.