51 percent of unvaccinated individuals think the COVID-19 vaccine contains a microchip

In the latest in head-scratching news, one in five Americans believes the COVID-19 vaccine contains a microchip, a recent Economist/YouGov poll reveals.

When respondents were asked how likely they thought it to be true that "the U.S. government is using [the vaccine] to microchip the population," 20 percent of U.S. adults said they thought it "definitely/probably true" and 14 percent weren't sure. 66 percent denied such a claim as "definitely/probably false." Notably, when broken down by vaccination status, 51 percent of "vaccine rejectors" believed the microchip theory, as opposed to just 9 percent of those who are fully vaccinated.

On a more broad level, 85 percent of those who don't want to get vaccinated believed the "threat of the coronavirus was exaggerated for political reasons."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Economist and YouGov surveyed 1,500 people between July 10-13, 2021. Results have a margin of error of approximately 3 percent. See more results at YouGov.