Coronavirus: one-third of Americans would refuse vaccine, survey finds

Survey of 27 nations for World Economic Forum found vaccine ‘intent’ to be lowest in Russia and highest in China, with Britain also ranking highly

US respondents against a vaccine cited potential side effects, worries about effectiveness and their own perceived invulnerability to Covid-19

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Anti-vaccine activists hold up signs during a protest in the US state of Massachusetts on August 29. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:32pm, 1 Sep 2020Updated: 9:32pm, 1 Sep 2020

One-third of US citizens would refuse a coronavirus vaccine if one were available, according to a multinational survey, which found the US to be one of the most vaccine-sceptical nations worldwide.

In total, 33 per cent of respondents in the US said they “somewhat disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the statement “if a vaccine for Covid-19 were available, I would get it”, according to an Ipsos MORI poll for the World Economic Forum.

Just over two-thirds of respondents indicated that they would get a Covid-19 vaccine, with 32 per cent saying they “somewhat agreed” and 35 per cent saying they “strongly agreed” with the statement.

The Ipsos MORI findings are broadly in line with previous polls conducted by Marist Poll and Gallup which both found that 35 per cent of Americans would not get a vaccine for the coronavirus if it were available.

Anti-vaccine activists hold signs at a protest outside the Massachusetts State House on August 29. Photo: AFP

Ipsos MORI also found that vaccine intent in the US was lower than the average across 27 countries surveyed. Overall, 26 per cent of respondents told the pollsters that they disagreed with the statement.