One-third of Americans say they would refuse free, FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine: Poll

Roughly a third of Americans polled said they would not agree to be injected with a free vaccine that prevents COVID-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, Gallup reported Friday.

As scientists worldwide continue to search for a cure for the highly contagious respiratory disease, the polling suggests an eventual treatment might not gain traction in the U.S.

Conducted between July 20 and Aug. 2, the poll asked respondents about their willingness to be injected with a hypothetical, free and Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine.

“If an FDA-approved vaccine to prevent coronavirus/COVID-19 was available right now at no cost, would you agree to be vaccinated?” Gallup asked 7,632 adults.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said they would agree to be vaccinated and 35% said they would not, according to Gallup’s results. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Among respondents who identified as Democrats, 81% said they would be vaccinated and 19% said they would not.

Republicans were nearly split on the subject, meanwhile. Forty-seven percent said they would be vaccinated and 53% said they would not, per Gallup’s polling.

The first known cases of COVID-19 were reported late last year in Wuhan, China, and it has since infected millions of people worldwide and killed several hundreds of thousands.

Public health officials have previously said it may take between 12 and 18 months to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

In the meantime, they urge people to practice social distancing and wear facial coverings in public to help mitigate the pandemic.

Despite a fair share of Americans being unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19, historical data indicates their resistance is hardly unprecedented, Gallup noted. When the pollster asked adults in 1954 if they would take the newly developed vaccine to prevent against polio, 60% said they would and 31% said they would not, according to the pollster.