Unvaccinated Americans say COVID vaccines are more dangerous than the virus, even with increased deltas among them

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When asked which poses a greater risk to their health, more unvaccinated Americans said COVID-19 vaccines than the virus itself, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — a view that contradicts all available science and data and underscores challenges that will continue. The United States faces it as it struggles to stem the growing “unvaccinated pandemic” driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

The survey of 1,715 American adults, conducted July 13-15, found that only 29 percent of unvaccinated Americans believe the virus poses a greater risk to their health than vaccines — far fewer than the number who think vaccines present the greatest health risks. (37 percent) or say they are not sure (34 percent).

Over the past 18 months, COVID-19 has killed more than 4.1 million people worldwide, including more than 600,000 people in the United States. Meanwhile, more than 2 billion people worldwide — and more than 186 million Americans — have been vaccinated at least partially against the virus, and scientists studying data on reported side effects continue to discover that vaccines are extraordinarily safe.

A supporter of President Donald Trump on January 5 holds an anti-vaccine banner at a protest at Freedom Square in Washington, D.C. (Irene Scott/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However, 93 percent of unvaccinated American adults—the equivalent of 76 million people—say they will either “never get vaccinated” (51 percent); that they will continue to wait “to see what happens to others before they decide” (20 percent); or they are not sure (22 percent).

With Delta quickly dominating the country, US COVID-19 cases are up 140 percent in the past two weeks. The number of hospitalizations and deaths – both lagging indicators – rose by a third over the same period. Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada and Florida are particularly affected, with hospitalization rates two or three times the national average. Nearly all Americans who get sick, are hospitalized, and die — 99 percent, by some estimates — are not immunized. More than half of the US population (52 percent) has not yet received their full vaccinations.

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As delta’s variable rises between unvaccinated counties and counties like Los Angeles have reinstated mandates for internal masks to try to stave off it, Yahoo News and YouGov have sought to understand why so many Americans continue to delay vaccination — and whether Delta’s rise might change anything in minds.

The results are complex. Some vulnerable Americans are aware of the growing threat to Delta. The share of those who said they were concerned about the variable had risen 9 percentage points (from 25 percent to 34 percent) since last month. However, the proportion of unvaccinated Americans who say they are not worried about Delta is larger, and it has risen about the same amount (from 31 percent to 39 percent).

As such, only half of the unvaccinated say Delta poses a “serious risk” to “all Americans” (33 percent) or “unvaccinated Americans” (17 percent); The other half say the variant doesn’t pose a serious risk to anyone (30 percent) or they aren’t sure (20 percent). In contrast, 85 percent of Americans who have been vaccinated — and 72 percent of all Americans — say Delta is a high risk.

However, while unvaccinated Americans are relatively dismissive of the delta risks — proven largely by outbreaks in India and elsewhere — they tend to apply a much lower limit to COVID vaccines. When asked to choose the “most important reason” for not being vaccinated, for example, few said they lacked “easy access to vaccination” (4 percent), or “can’t take time off work” (3 percent), or “already have COVID” (9 percent). More say they aren’t concerned about contracting COVID (12 percent) or — often — that they don’t trust COVID vaccines (45 percent).

Anti-vaccine protesters gather at the sample gates of Indiana University during a demonstration. (Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

but why? The most important reason, according to 37 percent of unvaccinated Americans, is that they are “concerned about long-term side effects.” This is followed by “I don’t trust the government” (17 percent), “Vaccines are too new” (16 percent), “The FDA has not fully approved vaccines yet” (11 percent) and “I don’t trust any vaccines.” (6 percent).

The problem for public health officials is twofold. First, despite the fact that there is no precedent in vaccine history for severe side effects appearing several months after a dose, let alone several years—and no mechanism by which COVID vaccines could lead to such side effects—it is hard to convince skeptics that This time will be no different. Meanwhile, the epidemic continues and the clock is ticking.

Second, when unvaccinated skeptics are asked to choose “all” reasons why they should not trust COVID vaccines – rather than the “most important” ones – many choose them all. Seventy percent say they are concerned about long-term side effects. 60 percent say vaccines are too new; 55% say they do not trust the government. 50% say they are concerned about short-term side effects. 45 percent say the Food and Drug Administration has not fully approved vaccines yet; 45% say they don’t trust pharmaceutical companies. And 26 percent said they don’t trust any vaccines. In other words, hesitation can turn into a whack-a-mole: address one concern and one pops up to replace it.

It remains to be seen if the delta effect mitigates any of this resistance. Fifteen percent of unvaccinated Americans say a delta spread increases their likelihood of being vaccinated, especially Democrats (34 percent) and Hispanics (34 percent). However, 12 percent of unvaccinated Americans actually say delta makes them less likely to get an injection, and 73 percent say it “doesn’t make a difference.”

Digging deeper, 20 percent of unvaccinated Americans say they would be “a lot more” (10 percent) or “somewhat more” (10 percent) more likely to get vaccinated “if COVID cases start to rise in people Not vaccinated in [their] area”; the same is true for higher local hospitalizations and deaths. Similarly, 27 percent of unvaccinated Americans say they will be either significantly more (12 percent) or more (15 percent) more likely to get vaccinated when the Food Administration approves And the drug is completely on the COVID vaccines, which are authorized for emergency use to combat the epidemic.

Full FDA approval is not expected until next year. On the other hand, new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths are already on the rise. We’ll see if either of them makes a difference.

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The Yahoo News Poll was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,715 US adults interviewed online from July 13 to 15, 2021. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, ethnicity, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Census Bureau, as well as 2020 presidential vote (or non-vote), voter registration status. Respondents were selected from the YouGov subscription panel to be representative of all adults in the United States. The margin of error is approximately 2.7 percent.

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