Acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine continues to increase, concluded a new survey by USA TODAY / Suffolk University, but pessimism is also increasing about when things in the United States will return to normal.
Both results could be signs that messages from President-elect Joe Biden are being heard. He took the vaccine himself and on camera – something President Donald Trump did not do – and warned that the pandemic will worsen before it gets better.
Now, 56% of respondents say they will receive the vaccine as soon as it is available, a jump of 10 percentage points since the USA TODAY survey in December and 30 points since October.
“The more people get vaccinated and see that it is safe … the more people are willing to get it,” said Shellie Belapurkar, 50, a medical nurse from Nashua, New Hampshire, who was among those interviewed. She got the vaccine herself and volunteered at a clinic every week to give it to others.
“It’s all about education, and I don’t think we educate our people enough about the dangers” of the coronavirus, she said in an interview.
Most of the change came from those who were reluctant to get the vaccine until others got it first. Those who expressed this opinion were 47% in October, 32% in December and only 22% now.
“When they announced that the vaccine was available, I was a little hesitant,” said Sandi Bethune, 71, retired training manager at AT&T in Oakland, California. “I would never fail to understand, but I wanted to wait a while and let other people be the guinea pigs.” Now, she said, “as soon as I can take it, I’ll take it.”
But those who say they won’t get the vaccine have barely moved, dropping to 18% now, compared to 20% in October and December.
“There is so much in it that it is not good for our bodies,” said Brook-lyn Parker, 28, a cosmetologist from Watertown, New York, who said he would never have the injection. “For me, natural immunization is the best way to go as far as COVID, kind of like the flu.” As evidence, she noted that she never got the flu shot, but only caught the flu twice.
Independent investigators have reported that COVID-19 is far more deadly than the flu, and relying on “collective immunity” without a vaccine would result in the deaths of millions of Americans.
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The poll of 1,000 registered voters, carried out by landline and cell phone from January 11 to 15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Optimism about when things in the United States will return to normal has subsided.
In December, a 51% majority predicted that things would return to normal by the end of this year. Now, only 44% feel this way, with a drop of 7 points. The proportion that says it will take several years has gone up 4 points, to 31%.
One in 5, or 20%, asked when the nation will return to normal, answered “never”.
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This article was originally published in USA TODAY: Poll: increases acceptance of the COVID vaccine; so does pessimism