Just over half of all Jamaicans are ready to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available in the island, according to an online poll conducted by Our Today.

The poll, conducted from December 22 to December 27, found 55.56 per cent of Jamaican voters saying they would get the vaccine when it becomes available and 33.33 per cent saying they would not. The remaining 11.11 per cent of Jamaican voters said they were not sure.

Back in November, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said he understood the concerns persons have about the efficacy of the process around developing vaccines, given the pace at which the various pharmaceutical companies were working to get them to market.

But at the same time, he reminded Jamaicans that vaccination has proven to be an undeniable success in the public health toolkit to reduce the burden of infectious diseases.

“Vaccination has been tried and tested and [has been] in use for more than 200 years,” Tufton said then.

The confidence among Jamaicans appears to be significantly higher than was reflected in polls conducted in the United States ahead of vaccine distribution there.

A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll conducted in October found just 26 per cent of persons willing to take the shot as soon as possible.

Just two months later, however, after vaccine distribution began in the US in December, a follow-up poll found 46 per cent of persons were ready to take the vaccine as soon as they can.

GROWTH IN ACCEPTANCE

The growth in acceptance appears to have been spurred by the authorisation of two vaccines as well as the sight of health care workers and public officials willingly taking the jab on camera.

It has been a reassuring turn in public sentiment for American health experts who feel distribution of the vaccine is crucial to controlling the pandemic that has killed more than 340,000 persons in the US alone.

With the numbers of Jamaicans willing to take the shot already at a reasonable level, and the vaccine not expected to arrive in the island for months to come, it is very likely that significantly more persons will be willing to be vaccinated once the time comes.