WebMD Poll Finds Only One in Four Will Opt to Get Covid-19 Vaccine When First Available

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Jul 28, 2020, 06:15 ET

NEW YORK, July 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fewer than half of all people responding to a new WebMD poll say they plan to get a vaccine for Covid-19 within the first year of availability, and only one in four (26%) would get a vaccine in the first three months.

The poll of more than 1,000 respondents comes amid the release of early data from vaccine clinical trials, with debates about education, travel and the reopening of business sectors often hinging on approval of one or more candidates by early 2021.

The findings suggest many remain wary or are taking a wait and see approach. In the WebMD poll, only 43% of respondents said they would get the vaccine in the first year, which includes the 26% who would get vaccinated within the first three months. An additional 30% said they weren't sure, and 28% said they were not planning to get the vaccine at all.

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Of those who expressed uncertainty about getting vaccinated, 78% cited concerns about potential side effects, with 15% saying they believed the vaccine would not be effective in protecting against the virus.

"The vaccine hesitancy revealed in the poll should be a wake-up call to policy makers and the medical community that we as a society need more effective strategies for living with coronavirus," said John Whyte, MD, WebMD Chief Medical Officer. "Some people won't get it, others will wait, and still others aren't ready to commit either way. Without widespread vaccine acceptance we won't achieve the herd immunity that comes with it. We need to begin to provide the public with tools and strategies that they can incorporate into their daily lives to mitigate their risk, while increasing testing and contact tracing known to be effective public health measures."

The U.S. has more than 4.2 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and 147,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. But CDC data estimates a much higher prevalence of the disease.

Source: WebMD poll of 1,000 readers, July 26-27, 2020.

About WebMD
WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, Jobson Healthcare Information, prIME Oncology, MediQuality, Frontline, Vitals Consumer Services, Aptus Health, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD®, Medscape®, CME Circle®, Medpulse®, eMedicine®, MedicineNet®, theheart.org®, and RxList® are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries.

About Internet Brands
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands® is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites lead their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com.

SOURCE WebMD Health Corp.