Most Americans Don't Trust Trump's Vaccine Comments: Poll

TUESDAY, Sept. 15, 2020 (Healthday News) -- In a sign that Americans are becoming more wary about the safety of a new coronavirus vaccine, a new poll shows a majority of adults don't trust what President Donald Trump has said on vaccine development.

More than half (52%) of adults said they don't trust the president's vaccine comments, the NBC News/Survey Monkey poll found, while just 26% say they do. Twenty percent said they were "not aware" whether they trust what the president has said about a vaccine, NBC News reported.

Those polled were also more skeptical about whether they or their families would get a government-approved coronavirus vaccine if one became widely available, NBC News reported.

The poll's latest data show that just 39% said they would get it, 23% said they wouldn't and 36% say they weren't sure. Just a month ago, 44% of Americans said they would get a government-approved vaccine, 22% said they wouldn't, and 32% said they weren't sure.

The highest level of confidence in a coronavirus vaccine came during the week of Aug. 17 to Aug. 23, when 45% polled said they would get a vaccine.

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Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed's vaccine efforts, said the first people in the United States could get vaccinated for COVID-19 next month also said that 80% of Americans should be vaccinated in order for the program, plan to be successful.

Slaoui said the administration's goal is to distribute an approved vaccine within 24 hours of its approval by the Food and Drug Administration. A committee is expected to meet in December to approve Pfizer's emergency authorization request for its vaccine candidate, found to be 95% effective in preventing the coronavirus.

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