Residents in other countries are generally more accepting of a potential COVID-19 vaccine than Americans, according to survey results published Oct. 20 in Nature Medicine.
Researchers collected responses from 13,426 people aged 18 and older from 19 countries who were among the top countries affected by the pandemic in terms of COVID-19-positive residents per million. The responses were gathered June 16 to June 20.
According to the survey, 71.5 percent of respondents overall said they would be very likely or somewhat likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available. About two-thirds of participants said they would follow an employer’s recommendation to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
These results stand in contrast to those from an October poll conducted by STAT and the Harris Poll, which found that only 58 percent of Americans would get vaccinated as soon as a COVID-19 vaccine became available. The percentage of willing Americans has been dwindling with each iteration of the survey, stemming in large part from the public's growing concern that the nation's vaccine approval process is more influenced by politics than science, according to STAT.