Times/USC poll finds majority of California's registered voters have no plans to get H1N1 vaccine

As concern spreads about H1N1 flu, a new survey of California voters found that while most consider the vaccine safe, a majority had no plans to get vaccinated. The poll also found that blacks and Latinos are far more likely than other groups to say they believed the vaccine could be unsafe.

The findings come from a new Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Poll. The survey, which interviewed 1,500 registered voters from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3, was conducted for the Times and USC by two nationally prominent polling firms, the Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies. The results have a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points.

Only 5% of those polled said they already had been inoculated. Of the rest, 52% said they did not plan to get vaccinated. Of the 40% who said they wanted the vaccine, 12% said they already had attempted to find it but failed.

Of those polled, 70% said they think the H1N1 vaccine is safe for most people, while only 17% said there was a strong chance the vaccine is unsafe.

The Times/USC poll findings regarding minorities and young adults, however, may be of particular concern to public health officials.

Blacks and Latinos are among those at risk of catching H1N1 flu, mostly because they suffer disproportionately from asthma, diabetes and other health problems. They are also four times more likely than whites to be hospitalized with H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released in September.

Yet blacks and Latinos in California were more likely to doubt the safety of the vaccine, according to the Times poll: 34% of blacks and 25% of Latinos consider the vaccine unsafe, compared with 14% of whites and 16% of Asians.

Blacks were the least likely to get vaccinated: 65% said they had no plans to get inoculated, compared with 52% of whites, half of Latinos and 41% of Asians. “People are very skeptical,” said Desiree Harris, 45, of Pasadena, an African American polled by The Times.

A Pentecostal minister, Harris said she has not been vaccinated, but considers the vaccine safe, knows some people who have received it and has encouraged others at her church to get inoculated.

Harris, a conservative Democrat who voted for President Obama, said many Americans distrust federal authorities and must be reassured that they need the vaccine for their own safety.

“This current administration, they are having to rebuild our faith in the government,” Harris said. The Times/USC poll also found that 59% of people ages 18 to 29, among the most at-risk of any age group, said they had no plans to get the vaccine. People in their late teens through mid-20s are considered one of the five priority risk groups.

Cody Bannerman, 24, of San Francisco, was among those who said he does not intend to get the vaccine. Bannerman, an unemployed financial analyst, said he considers the vaccine safe but getting vaccinated would be inconvenient.

“There’s a lot of time you have to put into getting the vaccine, finding out where to get it and standing in line,” Bannerman said. “If they had like a vaccination station in my neighborhood and you could just drop by, I might be more inclined to get it.”

He said he does not known anyone who has had H1N1 flu, but every time a friend catches a cold they joke about having it.

“They’re not actually concerned about it. I’m definitely not,” he said. “A lot of people my age have the mentality they’re invincible and nothing can happen to them.”

The Times/USC poll also found that people who identified themselves as conservative Republicans were nearly twice as likely than those who said they were liberal Democrats to say there was a strong chance that the vaccine was unsafe.

Overall, many polled may not feel compelled to get vaccinated because they do not know anyone recently stricken with the flu. Nearly 90% said neither they nor a member of their immediate family had contracted H1N1 flu during the past four weeks, while 10% said they did. Others may be wary of long lines at public vaccination clinics and waiting lists for private healthcare providers due to national vaccine shortages.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Comments

[deandre roberts]

I think that most people such as black and latinos may want the vaccine but they may feel they cant afford it.I think that the registered voters honestly dont want it because they are not too scared due too the swine flu controllabilty. since the swine flu has been under control more or less i feel people arent too scared. Some people probaly want it but dont no enough information about it or how to get it since the vaccine are at specific places.

[Get the vaccine!]

I find it so hard to believe that there are people who are electing to not become vaccinated! When you have a friend or loved one die of this flu will you then change your mind? It will happen. The flu season has just started and it is estimated that 40% of the population will catch H1N1. I've watched two of my otherwise healthy friends die so far.

I hope that even if you decide that you don't want the vaccine (but instead will risk catching H1N1 and/or passing it on to someone who may not survive it), that you at least be a responsible adult and have your children vaccinated. More children have died of H1N1 in the past couple of months than have died in any entire flu season in the recent past.

Sure there is an extremely minute chance that you may develop a side effect, however you CANNOT catch the flu from the vaccine. I guess we are very lucky that people did not adapt this attitude with Smallpox.

[labeachgirl]

My pregnant coworker has been trying for weeks to get the H1N1 vaccine, however most clinics run out before she can get there or she'd have to wait 1/2 day to get it and end up getting some sickness from the waiting room.

If people are like me, we know the vaccine is scarce and that those at risk are struggling to get it, so most like me will take their chances until the shortage is resolved for the at risk groups

[Ana]

this is a very hard situation the world has to face. the swine flu was not considered very seriously when discovered because many people though it would go away. however, no the swine flu is killing many humans and although people here about it some don't want to get the vaccine and others do to protect themselves. people get the vaccine because they are being told to, but do not have any idea what can be the side effects. the vaccine turn out to cause horrible effcets. that is the reason for voting no. people need to get alert for what the vaccine is for and get to learn about the side effects.

[mark]

Count me among those who have no plans to get the vaccine.

I made the decision that I'm healthy enough (I'm 42, and in decent shape) to survive H1N1 if I get it. In fact, I'm just now recovering from being quite ill, having had 5 days of strong fever, coughing, chills, bodyache and headache (although little to no sinus trouble, interestingly), having to miss work and sleep for 16 hours a day.

Is/was my malady swine flu? Possibly...I did not bother to get it diagnosed due to it being far more trouble than this was worth to encounter my HMO and their system of the first general doctor basically being a gatekeeper.

Getting sick is not an inherently bad thing, sometimes you get sick, for god's sake.

Anyhow, despite the real suffering I endured the past few days, I've survived and have been able to work yesterday and today.

I also have had an enduring frustration with getting reliable information on how dangerous the H1N1 virus is. Frankly, the media is completely corrupted by sensationalism, and it really interferes with the need to get accurate information. My suspicion is H1N1 is NOT worthy of the attention it's gotten and the outsized coverage.

[Dale]

I have absolutlely no plans to get the H1N1 vaccination. If it's available when my kids go to get their annual physicals, fine, they can get it. But I am not going to chase down a vaccination for a "pandemic" which has been overblown by the media and the government.

I do not trust either very much. The symptoms and effects of the swine flu are not all that different from the regular seasonal flu and can be overcome with healthy diet and exercise. This is all so much hysteria over nonsense.

Additionally, with the rush to get the vaccination out to the healthcare providers, has there really been any testing as to long term effects of this shot? Probably some more government experiments, and as long as we stay like sheep, all is right with the world.

[Turbo T]

All the statistics so far have shown a lower fatality rate for H1N1 than the more common types of influenza. I'll take my chances.

The outbreaks earlier this year were scary, but I'm sure the first outbreak of chickenpox was the same.

[Rick]

What idiots! I guess Darwin was right, Survival of the Fittest. These are the same idiots that will scream injustice when they get sick, or when, heaven forbid, their child gets sick and dies.

[Didn't get the Shot]

As someone who has had the H1N1 flu I can tell you it was no big deal. In fact when I went to the doctors office he'd had it to. It was actually quite mild compared to the regular flu and if you're not in a high risk group relax. I've never had a flu shot and rarely get the flu. It's never made much sense to me to get a shot that might make you sick to reduce the risk of getting the flu which you might not even get. For me it has little to do with whether or not the vaccine is safe. To each his own, but considering that 36,000 people in the us die from the regular flu, if you're in a low risk category for the H1N1 vaccine why endure all the hassle? JR

[mich]

If the vaccine was easy to obtain, I am sure far more people could get it. While I don't consider myself high risk, I would very much like to get my young children vaccinated. I call my pediatrician at least twice a week looking for the vaccine, and I know people who call their's twice a day - nothing!!

These mass vaccinations in LA are insane zoos and the height of government inepitude. How can anyone expect people to take a full day off from work (especially in this economic climate), pull kids out of school and stand in lines for HOURS to - hopefully - get a vaccine. And that doesn't even take into account having to do this a second time to get booster shots for kids under 10.

Unbelievable.

[jack]

WHY IS IT NO ONE IS COMMENTING THAT THE PRODUCTION OF H1N1 HAS HURT THE PRODUCTION OF SEASONAL VACCINE SUCH THAT THE NET RESULT MAY WELL BE MORE DISEASE.

[carlsbadcrawler]

Got mercury?

[Laura]

If I understand this poll correctly, it is saying that many people are not planning on getting the vaccine because it is too difficult to obtain. The title of this piece makes it sound like people do not want the shot.

My son is 3 years old, and I couldn't imagine waiting in line for hours on end with him. I called our pediatrician frequently, and happened to catch them on a day when they got some vaccine in stock. I felt like I won the lottery. We were in and out of the office in 5 minutes.

If the shot was easier to get, I'm sure more people would be getting vaccinated.

[Laura]

To Didn't Get The Shot - it is irresponsible for you to assume that everyone will have the same symptoms as you did. Just like the seasonal flu, some people get hit with it harder than others. Saying it is no big deal because it was no big deal for you is wrong.

[Gaucho420]

I got both vacinnes, swine & seasonal, at the same time and didn't get sick. My doctor told me people beleive false facts on the internet about getting sick from vacciness and there's a 0% chance of getting ill. He shrugged his shoulders and said, WHATEVER.

I did not get ill and I've gotten the seasonal vaccine every year for 5 years...and miracles of all miracles...I've haven't gotten the flu since. Oh the shock (tongue firmly in cheek)

Idiots are everywhere, this does not surprise me what-so-ever. Its amazing the amount of opinions people hold, for things such as their health, when they have ZERO formal training on it.

Same idiots who are/were arguing agaisnt the stimulus, who again, didn't have any sort of economics training either.

[Sonny Blaze]

Part of the skepticism of people to color towards the swine flu vaccine may have to do with the continuing history of the federal government's peculiar behavior with respect to selectively treating people with disease on the basis of class and color. Consider the following item from democracynow.org that was posted today.

"CDC Criticized for Distributing Scarce Flu Vaccines to Wall St. Firms"

And calls are growing for an investigation into why health officials have handed out swine flu vaccines to some of Wall Street’s leading financial firms while they’re unavailable to most Americans. More than a dozen companies were given the vaccines, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. The Center for Disease Control says the companies met several criteria, including having a large number of employees and their own medical staff. But critics say the CDC has violated its own calls to distribute the vaccine only to those at highest risk. In a statement, Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said, “Although CREW has been unable to uncover the demographic makeup of [these companies], it seems safe to assume the vast majority of their employees are not pregnant women, infants and children, young adults up to 24 years old, and healthcare workers.”

[LEM]

To Sonny Blaze | November 06, 2009 at 03:12 PM:

CDC does not decide who gets 2009 H1N1 vaccine. State and local government authorities decide, then tell CDC where to send the vaccine. New York City health officials directed the vaccine shipments to Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, etc., and stand by their decision.

[Had it]

I'm so glad to hear that those here who said they already had the H1N1 virus had such an easy time with it. Right... I got the H1N1 virus in September when they were still calling it Swine Flu. That was the most horrible three weeks of my life. I spent 8 days in a hospital in and out of consciousness. I was intubated and heavily sedated for part of my stay. I was still recovering for 2 weeks after my release.

As for the idiots who said that only unhealthy people will suffer or die from this let me explain that I am a very healthy 26 year old woman. I am not overweight. I do not smoke.I have no underlying medical conditions. I don't have a sedentary lifestyle. I walk two or three miles daily. I spend my weekends outdoors swimming and surfing.

You do not know if you will get the H1N1 flu. You do not know how it will effect you. I know that the vaccine is really hard to get right now. Please be very careful out there.

Don't let this newspaper be your only source of information on the pandemic.
The H1N1 pandemic is much more serious than a regular flu season. Search and you will find that doctors are not even testing for H1N1 any more unless someone is admitted to the hospital. Those of you who say you had it and it was easy to deal with are full of it. There is such a limited amount of flu medicine left that it doesn't matter if they test you or not. They can't treat you unless you are in danger of dying. Search on what's going on in the rest of the world. It's a lot worse in other places.

I am sorry that so many of you are in denial. I'm sorry that the CDC really screwed up by not ensuring enough vaccines to go around, and are now minimizing the impact of H1N1. I'm sorry for those of you who will die of this virus or will watch your children die. I will pray to Jesus for all of you and hope that you do not have to go through what I did two months ago.

[Douglas]

Sonny Blaze, while I agree with you about the distrust of government by people of color (ironically while a larger percentage of them being dependent upon government programs), the example of the swine flu vaccine being preferentially given to Wall Streeters should logically induce them to actually trust the vaccine and want it. Instead they distrust the safety of the vaccine.
It would be an amusing example of irrationality if it wasn't so sad.

[Isobel]

It's the FLU. The WHO shows that far more people die from "regular" flu EVERY SINGLE YEAR (something like 30,000) than they predict will die of swine flu. People need to build their immunity, naturally, and improve their overall health instead of turning to vaccines for everything, which will only come back to bite us later. And people need to stop panicking so easily. Why are people so afraid of getting sick? It happens. And believe it or not, your immunity is usually much better & stronger for it.

I know people who've gotten the flu and they're fine. It wasn't all that horrible either. YES, people react differently and some people will have a much worse reaction to H1N1 and may die - but the same can be said of the common cold and every other bug & virus out there.

I'm pregnant, and I absolutely refuse to get the vaccine. I'm fine. I'll be fine. I exercise, I eat healthily - I eat lots of foods that are known to build immunity. And that counts - a lot.

We went through the same thing with the Bird flu how many years ago. It was all over the news and they'd tried to scare us with the threat of pandemic and deaths, etc... have you heard anything about that lately? I swear people just need something to be afraid of.

As for those of you who say things about people who refuse the vaccine to be in denial - brilliant argument, that. Has it occurred to you that you're just too quick to believe everything you read and that maybe it's actually ok not to get the vaccine? Again, being pregnant, I challenge the safety of this vaccine. Thermasil - mercury & aluminum? There are those of you who roll your eyes and say that it's safe, and yet we have a long history of being told that something is "safe" only to find out that it's not later down the line. I know doctors & nurses who have also refused the vaccine for themselves and have advised against getting it.

Perhaps a vaccine is a good idea for people in poor health, with a weakened immune system, people who don't have access to good medical care and have poor diets... but it is NOT necessary to vaccinate an entire population, including people who are otherwise strong & healthy. For every person that dies, there are thousands that DON'T.

[Olga V.]

Ana

There are facts that show swine-flu is less dangerous than the usual, sesonal flu, has lower mortality rate, etc. There is no point to get vaccinated, so we thinks, that this hysteria is rather about medicine factories and their incomes than real danger. If the flu start to become dangerous it means that it has mutated (in this case this vaccine will not help) or another kind of flu has showed up and that case this vaccine will not help either. As far as I remember for my childhood (and I am rather old) flu came and went away every years and we were not ill, or just very rarely. Now we have a lot of "magic" medicines and vaccinas and I just do not see less flu or less illnesses but the opposite.
Never anyone think about it?

Regards,
Olga