The Virus of Vaccine Distrust By Mrs Vera West
At least in the US there is a high level of distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, which is likely to become, in Australia, necessary to even live in civil society, as I covered in another article.
“[J]ust 49% of American Adults believe the new anti-COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine will be safe and effective,” according to Rasmussen Reports, one of the few accurate pollsters in the country.
An even lower number, only 46 percent, “think the new vaccine will be available in a way that is fair to everyone.”
On the question of whether the coronavirus vaccine will be safe, 21 percent do not believe it will be safe, while 30 percent are not sure. So, despite an enormous push in the media and government to boost public confidence in the vaccine, a majority of 51 percent are still not convinced.
When broken down by race, only 26 percent of blacks say they are “very likely” to get the vaccine, compared to 43 percent of whites and 36 percent of other minority groups.
On the question of whether the vaccine will be distributed fairly, 54 percent did not say yes. Twenty-four percent don’t think it will be fairly distributed, while 30 percent are undecided on the matter.
Rasmussen also shows confidence in the vaccine drops off slightly when people are asked outright if they intend to get the vaccine when it’s available. While 62 percent said they will get the vaccine, only 39 percent said they are “very likely to. “That compares to 65% and 42% respectively a month ago and 70% and 53% in late April when Rasmussen Reports first asked this question,” Rasmussen writes.
Senior citizens were more likely to agree to be vaccinated than young people, which makes sense since seniors are the most at risk.
The poll also shows men “are more confident than women in the safety of the vaccine and the fairness of its delivery. Men are also a lot more likely to get one.”
Hospital worker in the US also have a level of scepticism:
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/hospital-workers-turn-down-covid-vaccine-theres-too-much-mistrust
“Many employees at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., have reservations about taking the COVID-19 vaccine, and CEO Anita Jenkins is trying to get workers to follow her lead by getting vaccinated, according to CNN.
The hospital, a major healthcare provider for the Black community, received 725 doses of the Pfizer vaccine Dec. 15 and expects to receive a second shipment this week. As of Dec. 18, only about 600 of the hospital's 1,900 employees had signed up for the shots, according to Kaiser Health News.
There is a high level of mistrust and I get it," Ms. Jenkins told Kaiser Health News.
"People are genuinely afraid of the vaccine."
The vaccination numbers, though low, still exceeded expectations, Ms. Jenkins told CNN. An internal hospital survey of about 350 employees in early November showed that 70 percent were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine or would not take it immediately after it became available.
Ms. Jenkins received the shot Dec. 15 in hopes of inspiring staff to get vaccinated. She's part of a widespread effort by healthcare experts and community leaders to combat vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans. About 35 percent of Black Americans said they probably or definitely would not get the vaccine if it was determined to be safe by scientists and widely available for free, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study cited by CNN.
Howard University Hospital isn't the only healthcare provider with workers who turned down the vaccine.
At Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Texas, so many workers declined the COVID-19 vaccine that the hospital offered doses to other medical workers in the region, according to ProPublica.
The hospital received 5,850 doses of the vaccine, and it quickly became clear that not enough people eligible for the vaccine, like staff who work directly with COVID-19 patients, were opting to get it, DHR Health CMO Robert Martinez, MD, told ProPublica.”
At least there is still la bit of healthy scepticism out there, in a sea of conformity.
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