As more frontline health care workers and elected officials receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, public confidence is beginning to grow, according to a recent Google survey of Texas residents.
The statewide survey, conducted by a research firm on behalf of KSAT and its parent company Graham Media Group, garnered responses from residents living in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth, Austin and South Texas.
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The survey asked Texans to rate their trust in the new vaccine on a 10-point scale, with 10 showing the most confidence.
Out of 501 Texans surveyed from Sept. 26 to Oct. 6, only 23% of them — 119 in all — answered between 8 to 10, expressing great confidence in the vaccine. Roughly 35% gave an answer ranging from 4 to 7, while 38% answered between 1 and 3.
But a lot can change in a few months.
Between Dec. 10 and Dec. 19, about two months after the first poll, 501 Texans were asked the same question. This time, more than half — 255 in total — answered between 8 to 10. Only 17% answered between 1 and 3, the survey found.
In Texas, hospital officials and elected officials have publicly broadcast vaccinations in an effort to improve confidence in the vaccine. The most recent example was Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who received his vaccine in Austin on Tuesday.
The governor said he made his choice to take the vaccine after having discussions with officials from the CDC and Health and Human Services.
“They said it’s important for governors to step up and be examples in their community to show that these vaccines are very easy to get, very safe to get,” Abbott said.
Still, officials say there is a need to get more people on-board with getting vaccinated to help achieve herd immunity.
Some health care workers have expressed hesitance when it comes to the vaccine, saying it may have been rolled out too fast.
Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, a Black man, acknowledged that minority communities are among the most hesitant about the vaccine.
“I’ve talked previously about the history of mistreatment of communities of color, the Tuskegee experiments, the terrible treatment of Henrietta Lacks and her family, and how they just took her cells without her permission,” Adams said on Face the Nation last Sunday. “We need to understand that that distrust comes from a real place.”
Adams says this vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, but that it’s understandable for people to seek out more information about it.
“I hope people will get the vaccine based on information that they get from trusted resources because it’s okay to have questions,” he said. “What’s not okay is to make poor health decisions based on misinformation.”