Half of Americans interested in updated COVID vaccine, poll finds

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows about half of Americans are interested in getting a new COVID-19 shot.

The poll found almost 30 percent of respondents are “very interested” and 24 percent “somewhat interested” in an updated vaccine, according to the survey.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday approved updated vaccines to give Americans more protection before a possible winter uptick in infections.

The poll also found “overall” concern about the spread of the virus down. More than half of respondents — 54 percent — said they were “personally” concerned about the spread of the virus. That is down more than 20 points compared to a poll from three years ago, when 77 percent expressed concern. In early 2020, at the height of the pandemic, that personal concern was expressed by 90 percent of respondents.

Other issues highlighted in the poll include fears about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found 36 percent of those who said they were not interested in the vaccine cited concern over the vaccine’s safety.

The FDA this week said the updated vaccine is safe and underwent “rigorous” testing.

“It really concerns me that over 30% think it is dangerous when there’s really no credible evidence of that, yet a lot of disinformation and, honestly, fear mongering,” Dr. Jesse Goodman, an infectious disease expert at Georgetown University and a former chief scientist at the FDA, told Reuters.

The poll was conducted online nationwide between Sept. 8-14, with responses from 4,413 U.S. adults. It has a credibility interval of 2 percentage points.