Unvaccinated individuals believe the coronavirus vaccine is more dangerous than the virus, according to a poll conducted by Yahoo News and YouGov.
The poll found 37 percent of unvaccinated individuals believe the vaccines pose greater health risks than the virus while 29 percent acknowledge the coronavirus is a greater health risk than the vaccines, which studies have shown are effective in reducing cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Thirty-four percent of individuals were unsure which poses a greater threat to their health.
The study highlights how misinformation about the vaccines are deeply ingrained with many Americans. Vaccine doubts have slowed vaccination rates in the United States to a crawl, and have been a major factor as the delta variant sweeps through the country, leading to a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Federal health officials have spoken of a pandemic of the unvaccinated, a worrisome development that could lead to many more deaths in the nation from the coronavirus. More than 600,000 people in the United States have already died from COVID-19.
The poll found 37 percent are not getting the vaccine due to concerns about long-term side effects, 17 percent don’t trust the government, 16 percent believe the vaccine is too new, 11 percent cite that it is not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and 6 percent are against any sort of vaccine.
The poll also showed that many unvaccinated people do not see the delta variant as a significant threat. Thirty percent of unvaccinated individuals said the Delta variant wasn’t a serious threat to anyone, while 33 percent of unvaccinated individuals said the Delta variant was a serious threat to all people. Seventeen percent said it was a threat to unvaccinated individuals.
The poll was conducted between July 13 and July 15. It surveyed 1,715 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.