1 in 4 Americans plan on avoiding vaccine, poll says

(CNN) - A new poll shows about a quarter of people in the U.S. plan to avoid a COVID-19 vaccine if possible.

The poll, from Monmouth University, is based on calls to more than 800 adults in late January.

According to the poll, 50% of Americans plan on getting the vaccine as soon as they can, while 19% plan on waiting to see how others fare with it before deciding. Another 24% of people say they don’t plan on getting the vaccine.

Patrick Murray, the director of the university’s independent polling institute, said partisanship is the biggest factor.

“It says a lot about the depth of our partisan divide that it could impact public health like this,” he said.

The poll reported 42% of Republicans said they’d avoid the vaccine, compared to 10% of Democrats.

Demographically, the poll reports about 67% of people 65 and older want to get the vaccine as soon as possible while 52% of people under the age of 65 do.