Fewer than 1 in 4 Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 said they would get Johnson & Johnson's shot, according to a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News.
The CDC and FDA on April 13 recommended the U.S. pause use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine while they reviewed six reports of rare and serious blood clots in people who've received the shot. The Post-ABC poll was conducted April 18-21, before the pause was lifted on April 23.
The poll also found that among all U.S. adults, 46 percent believed Johnson & Johnson's shot was safe. That percentage dropped to 28 among unvaccinated U.S. adults.
For Pfizer's vaccine, 73 percent of all adults believed it was safe, and 53 percent of unvaccinated adults believed the same. For Moderna's vaccine, 71 percent of all adults believed it was safe, and 50 percent of unvaccinated adults believed the same.
Some immunization leaders said the apparent public mistrust surrounding Johnson & Johnson's vaccine raises concerns about whether the U.S. should have halted the shot's use, as the decision may have confused Americans about the dangers of going unvaccinated versus the incredibly rare possibility of getting blood clots, according to the Post.
"If I hear the phrase 'abundance of caution' one more time, I’m going to jump out of my window," Paul Offit, MD, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Post. "In the name of transparency, in the name of openness, we scare people."
More articles on pharmacy:
Where are COVID-19 vaccination rates dropping the most?
8 key COVID-19 vaccine administration errors
US to share entire AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine supply with other nation