WASHINGTON, USA — Nearly three-quarters of Washingtonians believe the Coronavirus vaccine is safe in a new statewide poll released Thursday by KING5.
SurveyUSA polled 650 adults across the state and asked how they felt about the vaccine. Of those surveyed, 40 percent said they believe the vaccine was definitely safe, and another 34 percent said it was probably safe. Nineteen percent said they felt it was probably, or definitely unsafe.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 25, and 28, and has a credibility interval of 4.6 points. Still, it found that confidence in the vaccine spread across all ethnic, geographic, and ideological groups.
As far as whether proof of vaccination should be required, attitudes were different. The same survey showed 66% of adults supported proof at large entertainment spaces such as concerts and arenas, and 61% supported it at private businesses. There were different beliefs primarily among Republicans and adults in Eastern Washington.
Washington Heath Secretary Umair Shah reacted to the poll by saying, "I think the important piece of this is the vast majority of Washingtonians believe that vaccines are safe." He continued, "As we know that vaccines have worked traditionally, MMR, measles, mumps, rubella, other kinds of vaccines that we don't even bat an eye when we're getting those vaccines, we don't honestly even bat an eye when we're taking medications, whether it's over the counter, or even a doctor prescribes that medication."
"We have somehow turned fighting this pandemic into a political equation, and not just about health and medicine, which, unfortunately, truly is what this is about. Our enemy is not each other, it's the virus," Shah said.