Most Americans don’t want Johnson & Johnson jab, new poll finds

Confidence in Pfizer and Moderna vaccines far higher than for beleaguered jab

About three in four unvaccinated Americans are against the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine, according to a new survey.

Carried out in the days before US regulators ruled that the benefits of the vaccine far outweighed any associated risks — including exceedingly rare blood clotting — on Friday, a number of Americans were asked about their confidence in the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

The poll from The Washington Post and ABC News alleged that 73 per cent of unvaccinated Americans — or about three in four — were unwilling to take the single-shot vaccine, with 22 per cent willing.

When asked about its safety, as few as 28 per cent of the unvaccinated respondents called it “somewhat safe” or “very safe”.

Pfizer and Moderna, the alternative Covid vaccines being administered in the US, were called “somewhat safe” or “very safe” by 53 and 50 per cent of those who were not vaccinated, respectively, reported the Post.

The poll was carried out days before regulators from the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the way for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to restart in the US on Friday.

It was paused for 11 days after a small number of blood clouts were reported out of the 7 million American adults vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson shot in recent weeks.

At a press briefing, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said warnings and fact sheets about the rare blood clotting would be delivered alongside shots from now on.

She added that by resuming the single-shot vaccine, “over 650 hospitalisations and 12 deaths among women aged 18-49” could be avoided per 1 million shots in the US, with the benefits for women over 50 even greater.

"These are significant numbers and show the important impact of this vaccine in our country," said Dr. Walensky. "In the end this vaccine was shown to be safe and effective for the vast majority of people."

Despite concerns that the pausing of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will reduce its uptake among Americans, chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that he believed people will eventually see that “we take safety very seriously”.

He told ABC’s “This Week”: "We're out there trying to combat the degree of vaccine hesitancy that still is out there. And one of the real reasons why people have hesitancy is concern about the safety of the vaccine."

According to the Post, 44 per cent of those who were unvaccinated indicated that they were unwilling to be vaccinated by any of the available shots, with the figure highest among Republicans.

The number of American adults who have so far received a single Covid vaccine stands at more than 139 million, with 94 million fully vaccinated, according to CDC figures.