More Than 60 Of The U.S. Population Has Received At Least One COVID Vaccine Dose
The Claim
A majority — or 60% — of people in the United States have refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Emerging story
The claim was widely shared by social media users throughout May and June and appears to originate from a group called VT Vault, which describes itself as a “local cause standing up for the rights and sovereignty of Vermonters in legal, non-violent ways.” The website for VT Vault is imprinted on the bottom left corner of the text-based image these users have shared across Facebook and Twitter.
Misbar’s Analysis
The claim that 60% of the US population has refused the COVID-19 vaccine is false. According to a May NPR/Marist poll, around 25% of Americans said they would refuse the vaccine, with 5% saying they were undecided.
61% of the population has received at least one dose against the coronavirus, according to the latest data from the CDC. And according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, more than 52% of people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve either received the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine or have received both shots of either Pfizer or Moderna.
It’s unclear who runs VT Vault, but there’s an option on the website to talk to the site’s admin using Telegram, an encrypted messaging and file-sharing service. The website attempts to persuade people that COVID-19 is a myth.
Health officials have for months urged people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. “If you have had COVID-19 before, please still get vaccinated,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a media statement released earlier this month. “You are twice as likely to get infected again if you are unvaccinated. Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious Delta variant spreads around the country.”
On Aug. 23, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccination, a move that’s seen as an elevation in its credibility. Even before securing FDA approval, Pfizer and the other two U.S. vaccines went through numerous clinical trial stages.
