The portion of Americans who say they're willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has grown since earlier polls in the summer, The New York Times reports.
Earlier polls indicated that 50 percent of people were willing to get vaccinated, while recent polls from Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center show more than 60 percent of Americans willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Several people who previously told NYT they were unwilling to get the vaccine cite efficacy data and limited quantities as reasons that they've now changed their mind.
Seeing the excitement and public images of healthcare workers, leading scientists and politicians getting vaccinated may also contribute to the increase in poll numbers, according to public opinion experts.
As the U.S. surpasses 330,000 COVID-19 deaths and 19 million cases, more people have been touched by the coronavirus. "More people have either been infected or affected by COVID," Rupali Limaye, PhD, MD, vaccine behavior expert at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, told NYT. "They know someone who has had a severe case or died."
While vaccine hesitancy remains highest among Black Americans, the recent Pew Research poll shows the percentage of Black adults willing to get vaccinated is up to 42 percent compared to 32 percent from a September poll.
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