1 in 3 Americans don’t plan to get the vaccine

About 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging news if the U.S. hopes to achieve herd immunity and vanquish the outbreak.

The poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that while 67 percent of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15 percent are certain they won’t and 17 percent say probably not. Many expressed doubts about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

The poll suggests that substantial skepticism persists more than a month and a half into a U.S. vaccination drive that has encountered few if any serious side effects. Resistance was found to run higher among younger people, people without college degrees, Black Americans and Republicans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious-disease scientist, has estimated that somewhere between 70 percent and 85 percent of the U.S. population needs to get inoculated to stop the scourge that has killed close to 470,000 Americans.

The United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency said its inspectors have confirmed that Iran has begun the production of uranium metal — another violation of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi told member nations that his inspectors had confirmed Monday that a small amount of uranium metal, 3.6 grams, had been produced at Iran’s Isfahan plant, the Vienna-based organization said.

Uranium metal also can be used for a nuclear bomb, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal — the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.