Older People, Black and Latinx Americans Say They Would Be Hesitant About Getting a Coronavirus Vaccine

MarketWatch reports that the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging found many Americans are reluctant to get vaccinated for COVID-19, especially those who are older than 50 and/or from Black and Latinx communities. According to the survey of more than 1,500 Americans, about 46 percent of respondents 50 to 80 would prefer to wait for others to get vaccinated first before undergoing inoculation themselves. Moreover, 14 percent in that age group would rather not get vaccinated at all. This is worrying, as Michigan Medicine's Preeti Malani notes that "effective vaccines will be crucial to getting this pandemic under control and preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, especially among people over 50 and those with underlying health issues." Frontline public healthcare workers are expected to be ahead of all other groups in gaining access to a COVID-19 vaccine if one becomes available. "As the public sees healthcare workers taking vaccinations and being the first ones to do it, as we see the effectiveness, and we see the clinical results, that will then build confidence depending on what the evidence is, and what we're seeing about the initial safety from the initial groups," said Atul Gawande with President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus task force. Meanwhile, a poll by COVID Collaborative indicated that only about 14 percent of Black Americans trust that a coronavirus vaccine will be safe, as do 34 percent of Latinx Americans.