Health experts, awaiting the imminent approval of several COVID-19 vaccines, have worried that some people's mistrust of vaccinations could limit the vaccines' effectiveness in combating the spread of the coronavirus.
A new Elon University Poll, released Thursday morning, found that 60% of the 1,390 North Carolinians surveyed either would not take the vaccine, or are not sure.
That number is "low and disappointing," UNC Charlotte public health sciences Professor Melinda Forthofer told the Observer.
"Our best bet for managing this pandemic is to have a much higher percentage of people receiving the vaccine when they can," she said.
The online survey comes as coronavirus levels in North Carolina and Mecklenburg skyrocket, far surpassing previous peak levels. On Tuesday, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper enacted a new, modified stay-at-home order, effective Friday at 5 p.m.
The new order tells North Carolinians to stay home after 10 p.m., as the state prepares for a potential influx of COVID-19 cases during the holidays.
For the vaccine to be most effective in limiting the spread of the coronavirus, most North Carolinians will need to get the vaccine, Davidson College biology professor Dave Wessner said.
Wessner, who specializes in viruses, said some people won't be able to get the COVID-19 vaccination, such as pregnant people. In that case, those people will rely on herd immunity — the concept that the population will be protected from a virus if a large majority of people are vaccinated — to limit the spread of the virus.
Some people surveyed by the Elon poll said they wouldn't get the vaccine because they worry they could contract COVID-19, or that they believe the vaccine development happened too quickly.
But Wessner said it's impossible to contract COVID-19 from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
That's because the vaccines, if approved by the FDA, would be the approved first vaccines to use just a piece of the mRNA of the virus, Wessner said.
Other vaccines have used either a dead or inactive virus, or a live but weakened virus.
There's no live virus in the COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, the mRNA — which carries a portion of genetic code — teaches human cells to make a "harmless piece" of protein from the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your body will trigger an immune response once it recognizes the protein that doesn't belong, protecting you from future infection.
Wessner said while the development of the vaccine has been very quick, he doesn't see it as "rushed."
Other coronaviruses have been around and have been studied for decades, giving scientists a head start, he said. And the virus that causes COVID-19 has not been shown to mutate as quickly as some others, making it easier to develop an effective vaccine.
Forthofer agrees: "It's been fast — because that's what's been required."
Vaccine arrivals
North Carolina hospitals could receive vaccines as early as next week, as soon as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it for emergency use.
N.C. expects to receive nearly 85,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the first shipment, state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen has said.
An early shipment will be sent to 11 hospital facilities in North Carolina, including Atrium Health, according to NCDHHS. After the vaccine receives FDA approval, more doses will be shipped to another 50 N.C. hospitals or more, Cohen said Tuesday.
The FDA is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine, which requires ultra-cold storage, first. The Moderna vaccine is expected to receive approval soon after.
Both vaccines require two injections, spaced weeks apart.
Poll breakdown
Here are some other highlights from the poll:
— 70% of people surveyed believe COVID-19 vaccines could help end the pandemic.
— 34% of people surveyed believe the vaccine might be more dangerous than COVID-19 itself.
— 24% of people believe they won't be able to afford a COVID-19 vaccine. (The vaccination will be provided at no cost to recipients, through the state and federal government.)
— 68% of people surveyed wanted to wait for others to get vaccinated before them, to see how it worked for them.
— 68% of people think Gov. Roy Cooper is trustworthy when it comes to COVID-19.
— 47% of people think President Donald Trump is trustworthy when it comes to COVID-19.
— 64% of people think President-elect Joe Biden is trustworthy when it comes to COVID-19.
— 66% of people have personally known someone who contracted the coronavirus.
— 30% of people surveyed identified themselves as Republican, 35% identified as Democrat and 35% identified as neither.
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