A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds that almost half of Americans believe the vaccines for COVID-19 are responsible for an increase in “unexplained deaths,” while more than a quarter say they know someone that may have died because of the vaccines.
The national telephone and online poll of 1,000 American adults found that 49% believe it is likely side effects from the vaccines caused “a significant number” of unexplained deaths, with 28% saying that they personally know someone that they believed succumbed because of the vaccine side effects.
The poll was conducted in the field by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC, from Dec. 28-30 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, according to Rasmussen.
Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said they did not know of anyone that may have died due to the vaccine, but 48% of those surveyed said there are “legitimate reasons” for being concerned about the effects of the drugs.
Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed said that people who worry about the vaccines are “spreading conspiracy theories,” while 15% said they were not sure either way.
Of those surveyed, 71% said they are vaccinated with 26% reporting they have not received the shots.
A large majority of those who are unvaccinated, 77%, say the vaccine side effects are at least “somewhat likely” to have caused a significant number of unexplained deaths, compared to just 38% of those who have received the vaccines.
According to the poll, 85% of those calling themselves Democrats report being vaccinated, compared to 63% Republicans, and 64% who identified as unaffiliated.
When it comes to those who claim to know someone that may have died from vaccine complications, however, the political difference is much less with 33% of Democrats saying they knew someone, compared to 26% each for both Republicans and unaffiliated individuals, according to the survey.
The survey comes after the controversial Netflix documentary “Died Suddenly,” which has been criticized as spreading the “debunked” conspiracy theory that the vaccines have led to an increase in deaths since their introduction in late 2020.
Katie McCarthy, an associate investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, told PolitiFact the film is dangerous because it takes "bits and pieces of truth and twists them to promote a misleading narrative."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to say the vaccines are safe and effective, and that reports of death after vaccinations are “rare.”
“More than 660 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from Dec. 14, 2020, through Dec. 14, 2022,” the agency’s website said. “During this time, [the] Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System received 18,007 preliminary reports of death (0.0027%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine.”
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