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Only 42% of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were available
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Only 42% of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were available

Will the government require it?

From the get-go with the coronavirus, experts have told us that what will save us is a vaccine.

But a new poll published Tuesday reveals that a steadily decreasing share of Americans — significantly less than half — say they are willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine should one ever be developed, Yahoo News reported.

What did people say about getting vaccinated?

Polling by Yahoo News and YouGov have found fewer and fewer of us are planning to get a COVID-19 vaccine once one is developed.

When the surveys first began in early May, 55% of all Americans said they would get vaccinated. That number has shrunk every time the poll has been conducted.

In late May, 50% said they would be vaccinated; by early July, that number had dropped to 46%.

Now the number is even lower. In a Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted July 28-30, pollsters found that only 42% of all Americans said they would get vaccinated "if and when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available."

Broken down politically — because every thing is nowadays — the poll reported that just 55% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans were planning to get vaccinated. Independents were even less likely than GOPers, coming in at 34%. Also, 62% of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's supporters would take the vaccine, compared to just 35% of supporters of President Donald Trump.

The number is interesting considering the share of people who say they are worried about COVID-19. According to the survey, 73% of Americans are worried about the virus, while 27% are not. However, only 42% of people think it's it is likely they'll get the virus, and 58% said it's unlikely.

Perhaps the biggest reason for not wanting to get vaccinated is concern over the safety of a fast-tracked vaccine. According to the poll, 69% of Americans are concerned about the safety factor, and 24% are not.

Only 44% of people trust the Centers for Disease Control and public health authorities to judge the risk of a COVID-19 vaccine.

So, what do people support more than vaccines?

For starters, 73% of us want wearing face masks in public to be mandatory — 27% disagree.

And 60% of our fellow citizens think another stay-at-home order would be a good idea. Only 28% disagree. Which fits with the finding that only 29% of those polled said they were worried about reopening the economy too slowly.

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