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THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 — Just over 54% of Americans now say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine in the first 12 months after it’s introduced, a significant increase from 42% in July, a new WebMD poll finds.
However, only 27% of the 1,000 readers who participated in the survey said they’d get a vaccine within the first three months after it becomes available, which is just slightly higher than 26% who said so in the July poll.
In the new survey, 12.5% of respondents said they wouldn’t get a vaccine at all, and 21.4% said they’re unsure.
For any COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it has to prevent or reduce the severity of infection in at least 50% of people who receive it.
But only 8.8% of survey participants said they consider that 50% standard effective, with 65.2% saying a vaccine should be 75% to 99% effective to be approved by the FDA, WebMD reported.
Only 25.6% of respondents said they would get a vaccine that was 50% effective, 35.5% said they wouldn’t get the vaccine, 25.6% said maybe and 13.3% said they weren’t sure.
“We already know that people are worried about getting a COVID vaccine, and understanding how well the vaccine works could be another hurdle for patients,” said Dr. John Whyte, chief medical officer of WebMD. “Public health officials face a tough challenge explaining to consumers what this vaccine can and can’t do.”
There are more than 170 potential COVID-19 vaccines being developed wordwide, with 142 in preclinical evaluations and 31 in clinical trial, according to WebMD.
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