Thanks, but No Thanks—New Poll Shows Americans Not Interested in New COVID Vaccines
Less than a quarter of those surveyed have "subject myself to another jab" on their calendars:
Among U.S. adults, 52% say they will "probably" or "definitely" not get the new COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor poll.
Conversely, 23% of adults "definitely" plan to get the vaccine — while another 23% will "probably" get it.
The country has become so polarized under President Joe Biden that even medicine has been politicized, with Democrats continuing to show much more faith in the mRNA technology than do Republicans:
Among the people who said they "definitely" or "probably" will get the new shot, most are Democrats and/or at least 65 years old, the poll found.
Seventy percent of Democrats plan to get the new vaccine.
That's compared to just 24% of Republicans.
From the official White House transcript of a town hall in July 2021 (bolding mine):
...unvaccinated people — the vi- — the various shots that people are getting now cover that. They’re — you’re okay. You’re not going to — you’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.
Of course, that statement turned out to be spectacularly inaccurate.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 6 and Sept. 13 and polled 1,296 U.S. adults by internet and telephone. The San Francisco-based KFF, which describes itself as an "independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism," concluded that many with conservative leanings simply don't trust the political and medical establishment anymore after the debacle that was the nation's COVID response:
"The poll shows that most of the nation still trusts the CDC and the FDA on vaccines — but there is a partisan gap, and most Republicans don’t trust the nation’s regulatory and scientific agencies responsible for vaccine approval and guidance," KFF's president and CEO, Drew Altman, said in a press release.