Survey: 29% of Americans believe that the coronavirus vaccine exists, but it is hidden

About a third of Americans are convinced that the coronavirus vaccine already exists, but it is hidden from the public, while almost half believe that the 2019-nCoV virus was created in the laboratory. This is evidenced by a survey conducted by the Foundation for the Development of Democracy and UCLA Nationscape, writes USA Today.

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The number of deaths in the United States due to coronavirus has exceeded 50 - about half of Americans also do not believe the veracity of this figure. This shows their lack of trust in official authorities, as citizens are asked to rely on the government, health authorities and other departments during the outbreak.

29% of respondents said that, in their opinion, a vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection already exists, but it is hidden from the public and time-consuming. Even more people (32%) believe that methods of treating coronavirus infection exist, but they are not used. About 70% of Americans agreed that these statements are not true.

“The fact that about a third of people believed this was shocking to me,” said Robert Griffin, director of the Democracy Fund Research Group. “It’s a pretty dark type of thinking that’s floating around the public.” This is a hidden distrust of society, distrust of the authorities.”

The Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape project is a massive study of the American electorate. During the 2020 election cycle, researchers seek to conduct 500 polls about politics and presidential candidates.

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More than 6300 Americans took part in this survey, with a margin of error of 2,2%. The project intends to monitor the reaction of fellow citizens to various information about the coronavirus.

“There are many battlegrounds in a public health crisis like this,” Griffin noted.

The views on the existence of the vaccine are almost the same among adherents of both Democrats and Republicans.

There are no vaccines or approved treatments for COVID-19. Volunteers in Seattle, Washington, who received shots in the first trial of a possible coronavirus vaccine are now getting them in a second round, a sign that the first trial went well. But health experts say developing a vaccine could take 12 to 18 months.

Regarding the treatment of coronavirus infection, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about the potential of hydroxychloroquine. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, emphasized that its effectiveness does not produce final results.

According to the survey, 44% of Americans believe that coronavirus may have been created in the laboratory, while 56% said it was probably or definitely not true. 50% of Republican supporters are convinced that the coronavirus was created in the laboratory, while among Democrats, 37% of their electorate think so.

“The key word in this question was ‘created,’” Griffin said, “and it gives precise direction without giving options.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there is no evidence that the coronavirus was created in the laboratory and "the virus most likely is of animal origin."

Trump, who condemned WHO and cut off funding for this global organization, said the US was investigating whether a new coronavirus had begun to spread after the accident at Wuhan, China's high-security biomedical laboratory.

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48% of Americans, mostly Democrats, are convinced that the US is "hiding" the number of deaths from coronavirus infection. More than half of the Democrats (55%) said that the likely number of deaths is hiding, while only 38% of Republicans supported this idea.

Despite the results of the survey, which show distrust, the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape project found that the public generally respects social distance measures recommended by experts.

81% of Americans said they had not left their home for a long period of time, up 9% from 72% two weeks earlier.

“Not all of this is necessarily a conspiracy,” Griffin said of the misinformation the survey examined. “Some of them may simply not know certain things, or it may be due to a lack of education.”

Among other new survey results are the following:

35% of Americans believe that the influence of coronavirus is probably "exaggerated" for political purposes;

39% think it is likely that people aged 30 and younger are less likely to get the virus. This view is most common among those under 44 years old. Although young people are much more likely to recover from this disease, they can become infected in exactly the same way;

36% are convinced that coronavirus is no more dangerous than seasonal flu for people under 30 years old. This view is most common among people under the age of 44.

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Coronavirus hardly transmits across surfaces: important evidence from new studies

Research: coronavirus mutated into dozens of different strains

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