65% Of U.S. Voters Would Be Skeptical Of A Covid-19 Vaccine This Year – Forbes

TOPLINE

Most United States voters would worry that a Covid-19 vaccine made available this year was rushed through rather than a scientific achievement, according to a September YouGov poll published by CBS News on Sunday, illustrating the skepticism around the increasingly political process of developing a coronavirus vaccine.

A lab technician sorts blood samples for COVID-19 vaccination study at the Research Centers of ... [+] America in Hollywood, Florida on August 13, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Surveying voters between September 2 and 4, the poll found that 65% of respondents would initially think a vaccine "was rushed through" if made available this year, with 77% of Democratic voters outweighing 48% of Republicans.

That skepticism is reflected in how soon voters would get vaccinated for the virus, with 25% of Democrats saying they would get one as soon as possible versus 42% of liberal voters who said the same in July.

Instead, 63% of Democratic voters now say they'll "consider it, wait to see what happens," while a majority of Republicans still say they would wait or never get immunized.

The poll arrives the same day Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris opted not to say whether she would take a coronavirus vaccine put out by the Trump administration during a CNN interview, saying, There's very little we can trust that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth.

President Trump has been accused of politicizing the Food and Drug Administrationamong several other federal agenciesand its ability to issue emergency use authorizations for potential Covid-19 treatments, the latest being convalescent plasma which experts say lacks enough data to warrant an EUA.

Vaccines typically take around ten years to develop, manufacture and distribute, but the U.S. along with other countries are on an accelerated timeline to achieve a suitable vaccine by early 2021, though Trump has claimed one could be approved before the November election.

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the "likelihood that we're going to have a vaccine for widespread use in 2020 is extremely low," and when it does arrive, it would likely be initially targeted at certain high-risk populations, like frontline healthcare workers. Like the government's top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, Gottlieb expressed confidence in the approval process. "There's multiple layers of review among people who are expert in these areas. So I don't think those people are going to be pushed around to make a decision that they're not absolutely confident in."

U.S. fears are a reality in Russia, where the government approved its Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine on August 11. The approval was met with skepticism. "I hope that the Russians have actually, definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective," Fauci said. "I seriously doubt that they've done that."

Nearly half of voters trust former Vice President Joe Biden to ensure a vaccine is safe compared to 34% for President Trump, but no matter what, 75% of respondents with majorities across political spectrums believe the next president should be immunized to quell fears around the vaccine.

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65% Of U.S. Voters Would Be Skeptical Of A Covid-19 Vaccine This Year - Forbes