The Truth About the Updated Covid Vaccine

October 2023

Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine” Poll: Only 15 Percent of Area Residents Have Received Updated COVID-19 Vaccine

Only 15 percent of area residents have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to results of the latest Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine Poll,” sponsored by Bethpage Credit Union.

Although 70 percent of 600 residents surveyed agreed that vaccines are important to their health, a majority of respondents had not acted yet to receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine that was approved last month for people ages 6 months and older by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Other notable poll results include:

• Seventy-five percent of respondents have received one COVID-19 vaccine and 76 percent of that group have received at least one booster.
  
• However, only 39 percent now say they are planning to get the updated COVID-19 shot; 25 percent do not plan to get it, and 22 percent are undecided.
  
• Of those not planning to receive the vaccine, 24 percent don’t think they need it; 20 percent do not think it is effective; and 13 percent think there are too many vaccines.
  
• By comparison, 63 percent of all respondents typically get a flu vaccine and 61 percent plan to get one this year.
  

The Truth in Medicine Poll results for Long Island and New York City mirror those of national polls that indicate a vaccine fatigue among many, which may be impacting people’s willingness to receive another shot.

While 51 percent of respondents said their children have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine since it became available, only 29 percent of the parents polled said they are planning to have their children get the updated vaccine.

The new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna target currently circulating variants and provide better protection against serious illness. The main reasons offered by respondents who will pass on getting the COVID-19 vaccine include “they don’t think they need it” or “don’t think that it is effective.” This is even though 27 percent of respondents have a health condition that puts them at greater risk for severe COVID-19.

Experts caution that this attitude is a recipe for community spread of the virus and a rapid increase in the number of moderate-to-severe cases of COVID-19.

• "Truth In Medicine" Poll Press Release
• "Truth In Medicine" Poll Results (PDF)
  
  

Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine” Poll: Only 15 Percent of Area Residents Have Received Updated COVID-19 Vaccine: