The chart above reflects the results of the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 27th and March 2nd of a national sample of 1,500 adults, with a 2.6 point margin of error.
Now that several vaccines are becoming available to the American public, there is hope that we can soon put this pandemic behind us and return to normal. But to do that, we need at least about 75% of the public to take the vaccine. That's the figure that would establish a herd immunity, and make it hard for the virus to spread.
But if this chart is right, it's going to be hard to get to that percentage. When questioned about four vaccines, only 42% to 57% of the public was sure the vaccines were safe -- and people are not going to take a vaccine they do not believe is safe.
