If a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, as promising reports suggest could be the case by winter, 66 percent of U.S. residents say they will get vaccinated, but others may not because of fears of side effects or a mistrust of the healthcare system, a new survey by researchers from Northeastern, Harvard, Northwestern and Rutgers has found.
Seventy-seven percent of U.S. residents of Asian origin,, 71 percent of Hispanics and 67 percent of white respondents say they were likely to seek a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, compared to 52 percent of Black respondents who are likely to do so.
A possible explanation for the discrepancy could be the population’s historic mistrust and wariness of the U.S. health system, explains David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer and information sciences at Northeastern, and one of the researchers who conducted the study.
