Axios-Ipsos poll: More Americans want the vaccine
12 January 2021
Data: Axios/Ipsos survey; Chart: Axios Visuals
Americans are more eager to get a coronavirus vaccine now that the process is underway, according to the latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Why it matters: This is an encouraging sign, and an indication that at least some vaccine hesitancy was simple wait-and-see caution — not dug-in opposition.
By the numbers: 60% of Americans say they’re likely to take a vaccine as soon as it’s available to them, up 8 percentage points since mid-December.
- There was a staggering 20-point jump in the number of Hispanic respondents who said they’d get vaccinated right away. Seniors also became much more amenable to a vaccine.
Between the lines: Last year, when vaccines weren’t yet available to anyone, the Axios-Ipsos survey has consistently shown that people were putting a higher premium on ensuring that vaccines were safe than on getting one right away.
- Now that inoculations have begun, and no serious safety issues have arisen, more people are feeling more comfortable about claiming their spot in line.
Real-world experience with this worsening pandemic may also be driving more interest in a vaccine: 44% of Hispanic Americans in our survey said they know someone who has died from COVID-19, as did 34% of Black respondents and 31% of white Americans.
Yes, but: There’s still a stubborn partisan divide, with Democrats significantly more likely than Republicans to say they’ll get vaccinated promptly.
Data: Axios/Ipsos survey; Chart: Axios Visuals
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted Jan. 8-11 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,038 adults. The margin of error is ±3.4 percentage points.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.