Most Plan To Take COVID-19 Vaccine, Some Skeptical: Ohio Survey

OHIO — With the release of a COVID-19 vaccine just days away in Ohio, most of the nearly 200 readers who took Patch's survey say they intend to get vaccinated against the disease, but some admitted they are wary or concerned about how quickly the vaccines were produced.

Just a year after the emergence of the coronavirus — which has since killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide and 282,000 in the U.S. — two vaccines against the illness are likely to be approved in the coming days.

Gov. Mike DeWine expects hundreds of thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccines to begin arriving in Ohio on Dec. 15. Health care workers and Ohioans living in nursing homes and other congregate care living situations will be among the first to receive the vaccine.

But will all Ohioans take the vaccine?

The answer — for the vast majority of Patch readers — is yes. More than 86 percent of survey respondents said they plan to get the vaccine, though 25 percent said they would wait a little to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective.

A little more than 10 percent of readers said they will not take the vaccine.

Slightly more than half of respondents were happy with Operation Warp Speed and thought the vaccine program was an exemplary model of private industry and government working together for the common good.

However, nearly 30 percent of readers think the process was rushed and could create further complications down the line.

For perspective, it's been just about a year since the first cases of the coronavirus were detected in December 2019, as a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin were diagnosed in Wuhan, China. On Jan. 12, Chinese authorities noted a novel coronavirus termed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Community spread of the coronavirus was first detected in the United States in February, and by mid-March, all 50 states had confirmed cases of the virus.

With a contentious presidential election in which President Donald Trump has yet to concede to projected winner Joe Biden, politics also seems to play a role in how confident some residents are in Operation Warp Speed.

Just 13.8 percent of readers who responded said the Trump administration's involvement in the project makes them more confident in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. More than 40 percent said the administration's involvement makes them less confident in the vaccines, but politics wasn't a factor at all for another 45.6 percent, who said it makes them neither more nor less confident.

One reader wrote: "Don't forget that the liar-in-chief was behind the mass rush to get these vaccines. That alone should make you think twice about their safety."

Another reader expressed their confidence in the vaccine because of President Trump: "Liberal media attacking President Trump and Operation Warp Speed are spreading misinformation potentially harmful including death, to the millions that are lead to believe the Covid vaccines could be harmful."

Here's what other readers said on the comment section of the survey:

"The Mrna vaccines are an amazing breakthrough. I won't hesitate to get one. I do think that had this Pandemic been taken seriously by the Trump administration, we wouldn't be in this desperate situation. As someone who studied Epidemiology at CDC, I trust the scientists who have provided truth about the pandemic, like Dr. Fauci in spite of the misinformation spread by the Trump administration!"

"I work at Metro hospital and hope they don’t mandate this vaccine like they do the flu shot. I don’t believe there is enough information on the side effects or possible adverse reactions to it. Sadly I am taking the wait and see approach tho many of my colleagues are all jazzed about getting it ASAP."

"People need to base their decisions on science and facts, not on political views and lies. The virus doesn't care if you are a republican or democrat. Personal rights stop when you can harm others by not wearing a mask or social distancing. People need to stop being so selfish, and care more about the safety of others. Daily, our healthcare workers are overworked and put in harms way. They didn't sign up for taking care of foolish people who even when dying, don't think Covid exists. How sad. Let's all do our part and get the vaccine so as a country we can move on from this tragic, deadly pandemic."

"I am somewhat concerned about the "chain of custody" of the Pfizer vaccine. Because the vaccine is compromised after only minutes out of its extreme cold storage, I'm concerned that sometime between leaving the production laboratory and arriving at a patient's arm the vaccine's effectiveness may be compromised due to unknown exposure to warming. This then would lead to people believing they have protection, but in fact being vulnerable. Is there any plan for follow-up testing of vaccinated people to verify they have protective levels of COVID antibodies?"

"I am not against vaccines. And, I will get the COVID-19 vaccine as long as it is not Pfizer. The constant deep cold that it requires, and the number of transfers a box of viles needs makes it more likely that the temperture rise above optimum levels. I may be more apt to take it if the vaccine was injected at a primary drop off point, such as Cleveland Clinic, but not so likely at a temperary vaccine clinic."

Note: Patch's survey was not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but was meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way.