More than two-thirds of Americans who were hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine had received at least one dose or were willing to vaccinated by spring 2021, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta conducted a survey of more than 4,600 respondents who answered questions about vaccines in 2020 and again in March and April of this year.
They found that one-third of adults who said they were hesitant to get the shots got at least an initial dose.
What's more, nearly 40 percent who at first reported they were 'unlikely' to get immunized now said they were willing to get their shots.
Additionally, even though Hispanics were the ethnic group most likely to report willingness to get vaccinated, white Americans were the most likely to have actually gotten jabbed by the spring.
The team says the finding suggest that, although vaccine hesitancy waned from last year to this year, there are still 'inequities' to address in who has access to the shots.
Researchers polled 4,600 adults about their likelihood of getting COVID-19 vaccines in 2020 and again in March and April of this year. Pictured: Registered Nurse Amber Boyd administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic for homeless people in Los Angeles, September 22
Last year, 69% of participants said they were 'willing' to get vaccinated while 31% were described as 'hesitant.' By spring 2021, 32% of the 'hesitant' group had received at least one dose and 37% were now 'willing' to get vaccinated'
Last year, when researchers were still developing and testing COVID-19 vaccines, a debate was igniting about getting the shots.
Questions swirled about whether or not manufacturers were cutting any corners and if then-President Donald Trump was going to push for a vaccine to be approved ahead of the 2020 general election.
A Pew Research Center poll in September 2020 found that U.S. adults were split 50/50 on whether or not they would get immunized.
Some were concerned about side effects while others said they wanted to 'wait and see' if the shots were effective.
Health experts have stressed that overcoming vaccine hesitancy is key to getting the remaining 71 million eligible Americans who remain unvaccinated to roll up their sleeves.
However, new research suggests that initial vaccine hesitancy is not necessarily tied to eventually getting the jabs.
For the study, published on Friday in JAMA Network Open, the team recruited 4,654 participants who were initially interviewed between August 9, 2020 and December 8, 2020.
People were asked if they were 'likely' or 'very likely' to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, categorized as willing, or 'very unlikely,' 'unlikely,' or 'unsure,' categorized as hesitant.
In the first
