Vaccine-hesitant Americans cite inaccurate side effects
17 May 2021
Data: Harris Poll; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios
An alarming amount of vaccine-hesitant people who list side effects as a top concern falsely believe the vaccines cause death, DNA alteration, infertility or birth defects, according to recent Harris polling.
Why it matters: Respondents also listed blood clots, which are a real side effect of some coronavirus vaccines, but extremely rare. This survey suggests that misinformation or a skewed understanding of risk may be behind a sizable portion of vaccine hesitancy.
Between the lines: The survey drilled down into the concerns of respondents who said they are "not likely" to get a vaccine, specifically the 25% who cited being worried about side effects as one of their top reasons for not getting vaccinated.
Details: Awareness of blood clots increases with age, per the survey.
- While only 37% of Gen Z respondents said they think the vaccine causes blood clots, 81% of Boomers — or people 57 and older — said the same.
- Technically, these respondents are right — some coronavirus vaccines have been linked to blood clots, but in very few cases. It's unclear how worried the respondents are about blood clots, but if the side effects they're most aware of are also the ones they're most concerned about, they're probably way overestimating the risk.
About half of Gen Z respondents accurately listed flu-like symptoms as side effects, compared with 65% of Boomers.
- But the generational gap in the number of people who inaccurately listed other side effects shrunk. For example, 24% of Gen Z respondents cited infertility, and 20% of Boomers said the same.
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.