Polls Say Millions of Americans Will Refuse COVID-19 Vaccine

A doctor looks at protein samples at Novavax labs in Rockville, Maryland, on March 20, 2020, one of the labs developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

As the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine continues, polls show that when scientists do finally deliver, millions of Americans will refuse to take it.

President Donald Trump told Fox News recently that he was confident that around the end of the year, a vaccine would be available for COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House coronavirus task force, gave a similar estimate for the availability of such a vaccine, when on April 30 he announced one would be ready by January 2021.

Screen grab taken from video issued by Britain's Oxford University, showing a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK to test a potential COVID-19 vaccine, taken by Oxford University, England on April 23, 2020. Oxford University Pool via AP

But even when a COVID-19 vaccine is ready, around 14 percent of Americans say they won’t get one, according to a poll by Morning Consult.

The survey, conducted May 1-3 on a sample of 2,200 U.S. adults, also shows that 64 percent of Americans said they would get the vaccine, while 22 percent said they didn’t have an opinion on the subject or were undecided.

Further, according to Morning Consult, the age group most likely to say no to a vaccine are people between 35 and 44. Only 53 percent of Americans in this age group said they would get a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available, while 18 percent said they would not.

According to Kristin Lunz Trujillo and Matt Motta, coauthors of a pre-print study into vaccine attitudes, some estimates show that between 50-70 percent of Americans would need to develop immunity to COVID-19, either naturally, or by way of a vaccine, in order to stop the pandemic in its tracks.

Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine COVID-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration on April 10, 2020. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

Meanwhile, drugmaker Moderna has obtained clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to run a larger trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The state of the phase two trial is “imminent,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.

The biotechnology company said the trial will include 600 participants and that it hopes to start a phase three study as early as this summer.

A researcher works on the development of a vaccine against COVID-19, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on March 26, 2020. Douglas Magno/AFP/Getty Images

There are no vaccines or proven treatments for the CCP virus or COVID-19.

The virus primarily causes severe illness in the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.

A significant number of people who become infected never show symptoms while others experience mild or moderate symptoms.

Symptoms include fever, fatigue, chills, as well as aches and pains.