1 in 3 Americans say they would not get coronavirus vaccine: poll

Thirty-five percent of Americans say that they would not get a free, FDA-approved vaccine for COVID-19, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll, released Friday, found that 65 percent of survey respondents said that they would get such a vaccine if it was “available right now.”

Respondents’ willingness to receive a vaccine also broke along party lines, with 81 percent of those who identified as Democrats saying that they would get an FDA-approved vaccine at no cost and 19 percent saying they would not. Among independents, 59 percent said yes and 41 percent said no.

Among GOP survey respondents, however, 53 percent of those surveyed said that they would not agree to receive the proposed vaccine. Forty-seven percent said that they would get the vaccine.

The percentage of those who said that they would receive the vaccine was highest among the youngest and the oldest survey respondents. Seventy-six percent of 18-29-year-olds said that they would get the vaccine, as well as 70 percent of those 65 and older. Sixty-four percent of 30-49-year-olds agreed, as well as 59 percent of 50-64-year-olds.

Among different areas in the U.S., 56 percent of survey respondents in rural areas said they would get the vaccine, compared to 68 percent in a small town or village. Sixty-nine percent in a suburb of a large city said that they would receive the vaccine, as well as 65 percent of those who live in large cities.

President Trump on Thursday said he believes it’s possible that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine ready around election day in November. The president has cited Operation Warp Speed, a government initiative to expedite the development and distribution of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force and the government’s top infectious disease expert, and other top health officials have said that a vaccine will likely be ready at the end of 2020 or in early 2021.  

The Gallup survey was conducted July 20-Aug. 2 with a sample of 7,632 U.S. adults. The poll has a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points.