Trust in America: In the age of COVID-19, do Americans trust science?
Public confidence in scientists has increased during the pandemic, though not among all Americans. We discuss the impact of trust on views of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Public confidence in scientists has increased during the pandemic, though not among all Americans. We discuss the impact of trust on views of COVID-19 vaccines.
Trust in scientists and medical scientists has fallen below pre-pandemic levels, with 29% of U.S. adults saying they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. This is down from 40% in November 2020 and 35% in January 2019, before COVID-19 emerged. Other prominent groups – including the military, police officers and public school principals – have also seen their ratings decline.
77% think vaccinations will benefit the economy.
Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.
Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the coronavirus outbreak. Fewer than half say the country has given the right amount of priority to the needs of K-12 students, public health or quality of life.
Still about two-in-ten U.S. adults are “pretty certain” they won’t get the vaccine – even when there’s more information.
There are widely held concerns about the safety and effectiveness of a possible vaccine and the pace of the approval process.
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