ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- New York is closing in on having 13 million residents vaccinated against COVID, as of October 21, based on the state’s website. With a population of little more than 20 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately seven million New Yorkers haven’t gotten vaccinated yet.

New Yorkers have listed many reasons for not getting vaccinated including side effects, not trusting the vaccine or the government, and because they don’t think they need it, according to a survey from QuoteWizard. Have their opinions changed over time?

QuoteWizard said the top reasons people aren’t getting vaccinated or have vaccine hesitancy is because:

• They don’t believe they need it
• They’re waiting to see if it’s safe
• They don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine
• They don’t trust the government

New Yorkers are most concerned about side effects. In a survey released by QuoteWizard in September, 46% of those surveyed cited concerns about side effects as the most popular reason for not getting a COVID vaccine. In October the percentage went up to 58%.

New Yorkers have grown more trusting of the vaccine and the government. In September 39% said they didn’t trust the vaccine compared with 32% in October. The percentage of people who said they don’t trust the government dropped from 37% in September to 28% in October.

Below is a look at the responses of New Yorkers released in September versus the responses released in October.

Concern about side effects was also the most popular reason people have gone unvaccinated in the U.S. (56%) followed by not trusting the government (37%) and not trusting the vaccine (45%), said QuoteWizard.

The table below shows the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. compared to survey results released by QuoteWizard in October.