Half of US Covid vax hesitant unlikely to change their mind: Survey

The survey found that 21.4 per cent of participants from across the US were unwilling to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, with 19.7 per cent in Dallas, 11.5 per cent in Los Angeles, 11.2 per cent in Chicago, and 10.1 per cent in New York.

Of those unwilling to be vaccinated, half stated that nothing would convince them to receive the vaccine and the majority reported that their unwillingness was caused by concerns about vaccine safety, said researchers, including Ayman El-Mohandes from the City University of New York.

For the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team surveyed 6,037 adults in April 2021 to identify their attitudes towards vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.

One-third of the participants came from across the US and two-thirds were from New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, or Chicago.

Unwillingness to be vaccinated tended to be higher among those who worked outside of the home, held conservative political views, had a lower household income and had not previously tested positive for Covid-19.

Although over 82 per cent of participants agreed that Covid-19 is a dangerous health threat, over 18 per cent did not believe that the dangers of Covid-19 exceeded those of the vaccine and over 15 per cent did not believe that Covid-19 can be prevented by vaccination.

Over 50 per cent of participants were in favour of the government requiring vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 and over 68 per cent supported vaccination requirements for international travel.