Unvaccinated Americans say the COVID-19 vaccines are more dangerous than the virus itself, a new poll by Yahoo News and YouGov reveals.
Here are how the poll results, released Tuesday, break down:
- 37% of unvaccinated Americans say the vaccines represent a greater health risk than the virus.
- 29% say the virus poses a greater risk to their health than the vaccines.
- 34% say they’re not sure.
- 51% of unvaccinated U.S. adults say they will "never" get vaccinated.
- 20% say they will wait "to see what happens to others before deciding."
- 22% were not sure what they will do.
- 37% of unvaccinated Americans say they are "concerned about long-term side effects."
- 17% don’t trust the government.
- 16% say the vaccines are too new.
- 11% say the Food and Drug Administration "hasn’t fully approved the vaccines yet."
- 6% of unvaccinated Americans say they don’t trust any vaccines.
- 39% say they are not worried about the Delta variant.
- 34% say they are worried about the Delta variant.
- 85% of vaccinated Americans say the Delta variant poses a serious risk.
The poll, conduct July 13-15, surveyed 1,715 people. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points.
The survey came as Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, said COVID-19 "misinformation is an urgent threat to public health."
Murthy, in his first surgeon general’s advisory, had said on Thursday that "health misinformation" continues to put "lives at risk" and prolong the pandemic, according to NPR.
He called for a war against the "health misinformation."
"COVID has really brought into sharp focus the full extent of damage that health misinformation is doing," Murthy told NPR.
Surgeon general's advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that demand immediate attention.
He urged those who are uncertain of the validity of claims about COVID not to share questionable statements.
"If you're not sure, not sharing is often the prudent thing to do."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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