As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, some people are still hesitant about getting the shot when their turn comes to roll up their sleeve because development of the vaccine happened so quickly.

Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, numerous other groups including vaccine review committees as well as the pharmaceutical industry have insisted while efforts to produce a vaccine were fast-tracked, safety protocols were not compromised.

A national Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds about a third of frontline healthcare workers don’t plan on getting vaccinated, but state Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday that as myths about the vaccine are being debunked, progress is being made in assuring everyone the vaccines are safe.

She said a 211 survey of 1,084 individuals in New Jersey done from Dec. 20 to Dec. 26 shows a higher number of people decided to get vaccinated than a similar survey done a week earlier.

She said the earlier survey found 44% of people definitely planned to get the vaccine, 28% were unsure and 27% said they would not be vaccinated, but in the most recent survey, 53% said they would definitely get the vaccine and 24% said no.

She noted age had a definite impact on which groups of people definitely planned to get vaccinated, with 83% those over 70 saying they were on board. Just half of those in their 40s said they'd get it and 47% of thirtysomethings would.

Dr. Ed Lifshitz, the director of Communicable Disease Services for the Health Department. said in New Jersey we’ve had about half a million confirmed COVID cases with close to 20,000 deaths, and across the country those numbers have been much higher. But after three weeks, we’ve had “zero deaths from the vaccine."

"I certainly would take my odds with the vaccine over the virus, any day of the week,” he quipped.

Gov. Phil Murphy said it makes sense that a growing number of people are feeling more comfortable about getting vaccinated “with the passage of time and the lack of horror stories associated with vaccinations and very little anecdotal or other evidence of people having bad reactions, etc., to it.”

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