Two-thirds of American voters say they’re not going to get a coronavirus vaccine, according to USA Today / Suffolk poll.
That’s about 67% of voters who say they either will never get one or want the majority of other people to get one first before they do.
Politics and “operation warp speed” are some of the reasons people claim to be hesitant about getting a vaccine. That operation was started by President Trump in an effort to get a vaccine available to the public at rapid speed. However, that urgency has some people distrusting the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
Scientists argue safety will not be an issue as the current vaccines in the trial are being tested on large, diverse groups of people to prove they’re safe before they’re offered to the public.
However, politicians are using the vaccine to make claims that the opposite party is untrustworthy.
“We’ll produce a vax in record time. Biden and his very lib running mate, is not a competent person in my opinion will destroy this country, should immediately apologize for the anti-vax rhetoric that they are talking about right now, talking about endangering lives, and it undermines science,” President Donald Trump said in a press conference Monday.
President Trump said it’s possible to get a vaccine before the end of the year and as early as October.
While Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris told CNN, “I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about. I will not take his word for it. He wants us to inject bleach. No, I will not take his word.”
Presidential Candidate Joe Biden said he wants a vaccine as soon as possible but also wants full transparency, “If I could get a vaccine tomorrow, I’d do it. If it cost me the election, I’d do it. We need a vaccine. We need it now.”
Many scientists say they probably won’t be able to prove effectiveness until 2021.
