Coronavirus: Half of Americans would refuse virus, survey reveals

Public trust in potential vaccination programs has fallen sharply in the US, even as the death toll nears 200,000.

A lab technician holds a tube containing a swab sample taken for COVID-19. Picture: AFP

Nearly half of all Americans would decline a vaccine for Covid-19, according to a survey that showed public trust in potential vaccination programs had fallen sharply in recent months.

Polling in early April showed that 72 per cent of adults in the United States would get a vaccine if one became available.

A new survey by the Morning Consult company suggests that only 51 per cent would do so now.

Among Americans who identified themselves as Republicans, only 45 per cent would accept a vaccine; the proportion among Democrats had also fallen, by 20 points to 61 per cent.

Willingness to get a potential vaccine has dropped even as the death toll has neared 200,000. This apparent waning of public trust has coincided with conflicting statements from the White House on the gravity of the pandemic, concerns that President Trump might seek to hurry trials to ensure that a vaccine is made available before November’s presidential election, and questions over the political independence of the Food and Drug Administration.

Political divisions over mask-wearing and social-distancing rules have emerged all over the country, along with legal challenges against regulations imposed to contain the pandemic.

On Monday a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that restrictions to keep people at home, limit the size of public gatherings and to close certain non-essential businesses were unconstitutional.

They “were undertaken with the good intention of addressing a public health emergency”, wrote William Stickman IV, a judge appointed by Mr Trump, of rules imposed by Tom Wolf, the Democratic governor. However, “even in an emergency, the authority of government is not unfettered,” the judge said. Mr Wolf plans to appeal.

The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who is also a Democrat, said that an extra 2,000 teachers would be made available to ensure children in the city could return to class as planned next week after head teachers warned of a staff shortage.

The Times