Exclusive: A quarter of Americans are hesitant about a coronavirus vaccine - Reuters/Ipsos poll

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Source: Reuters

U.S. MAY 21, 2020 / 7:03 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Reuters) - A quarter of Americans have little or no interest in taking a coronavirus vaccine, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Thursday found, with some voicing concern that the record pace at which vaccine candidates are being developed could compromise safety.

While health experts say a vaccine to prevent infection is needed to return life to normal, the survey points to a potential trust issue for the Trump administration already under fire for its often contradictory safety guidance during the pandemic.

Some 36% of respondents said they would be less willing to take a vaccine if U.S. President Donald Trump said it was safe, compared with only 14% who would be more interested.

Most respondents in the survey of 4,428 U.S. adults taken between May 13 and May 19 said they would be heavily influenced by guidance from the Food and Drug Administration or results of large-scale scientific studies showing that the vaccine was safe.

Reporting by Joseph Ax in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; additional reporting by Grant Smith in Jersey City, N.J., editing by Ross Colvin and Bill Berkrot

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccine-poll-exclu/exclusive-a-quarter-of-americans-are-hesitant-about-a-coronavirus-vaccine-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN22X19G

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The poll responses varied among certain demographic groups. Only half of black Americans, who represent a disproportionate percentage of coronavirus deaths, said they were somewhat or very interested in a vaccine, perhaps reflecting memories of an infamous U.S. government study that left black men deliberately untreated for syphilis.

College-educated white women - a politically important demographic that has moved sharply away from the Republican Party during the Trump era - were particularly concerned about how quickly the vaccine is being developed. More than 40% said Trump’s reassurance would make them less willing to take it.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States and had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of plus or minus 2 percentage points.