Half (52%) of Americans believe the speed of vaccine distribution in the United States has been moving too slow. According to a recent YouGov poll, which surveyed 12,214 Americans, 19% believe vaccinations have been moving at about the right speed, while 8% say distribution is moving too fast.
Americans feel similarly about vaccine distribution in their communities. Additional YouGov data shows 46% of Americans think the speed of vaccine distribution in their community has been too slow.
But why do Americans feel this way about the speed of vaccine distribution? We asked YouGov Chat users to tell us what they think. You can share your thoughts on the subject here.
“I think the vaccine roll-out is too slow because we don't have leadership right now.”
For YouGov Chat users who believe the COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed too slowly, many say it is a symptom of leadership failure. While some point to the federal government...
- “No preparations were made on the federal level.”
- “There was no federal plan for its distribution, and this has led to chaos.”
- “Distribution delays are due to the Federal Government.”
- “It was poorly organized at the Federal level.”
Others say the fault is in state leadership.
- “States are not prepared as they should have been.”
- “The governors are not managing it well.”
- “Lack of state leadership. In NY we have to wait for everything...”
“The research was rushed...”
For Chat participants who believe the vaccine is being distributed too quickly, some say they don’t believe there was enough testing and are unsure if it is safe.
- “I don't think there was enough testing.”
- “It hasn’t been tested long enough to know if it’s safe or not.”
- “The vaccine was developed too quickly and should have been tested for a longer period of time.”
- “It should not be being distributed at all yet. It has not been tested enough yet.”
“Most states are vaccinating as quickly as they can...”
Other Chat users say the vaccine is being distributed at about the right speed – some stating the importance of realistic expectations...
- “Realistic expectations. It was developed and distributed in record time. I can't imagine it could have been done any faster.”
- “Vaccinating 320 million Americans will take a lot of time to do it right so we shouldn't rush it and make sure those that really need the protection, the elderly and infirmed, get it first. Not dumbass politicians.”
- “It takes a lot of organization to gets things done. It will go faster with time.”
Others say they know individuals are getting vaccinated, and that’s all the assurance they need.
- “I know a lot of health care workers and their families have already received the vaccine. My mom is in a nursing home and they should be vaccinated within a couple of weeks. Stations are set up all over our state for people to get the vaccine.”
- “A good amount of high-risk people and health workers have already gotten it.”
- “I am not aware of anyone that wants the vaccine not being able to get it.”
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Every day, members of YouGov Chat are asked to share their opinion on a topic in the news. We allow anyone to take part in these chats, and do not display or weight results in real-time. Instead, to make the experience informative but still interactive, the chat displays weighted data from YouGov Direct to show them how the rest of the country voted. This enables us to pose the question to all, while retaining data accuracy and validity when communicating results.
YouGov Chat seeks to add to the ‘what?’ (the quantitative poll result) by finding the ‘why?” (qualitative open ends) in a member’s own words. Learn more about YouGov Chat here.
Image: YouGov
