Georgi Boorman writes for the Federalist about the eye-opening results of a new poll.

The U.S. government has still not formally admitted to any deaths directly attributable to the fast-tracked, emergency-authorized mRNA Covid shots, which comprise the vast majority of all doses administered, rolled out more than two years ago. Nevertheless, a new Rasmussen poll finds more than a quarter of adults think they “personally know someone whose death may have been caused by side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.”

Rasmussen’s results are stunning, but the fact that Rasmussen decided to conduct this poll in the first place is perhaps more politically and culturally significant. It indicates a sea change in attitudes toward the jabs.

At the onset of mass vaccination, major platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter put in place strict speech codes that proscribe framing the Covid shots as “dangerous.” News outlets and pundits have often accused those who question the safety of the shots of spreading “dangerous misinformation” and promoting “vaccine hesitancy.” Even right-leaning outlets such as Fox News largely refused to give credence to those warning that the shots may be far less safe than advertised. Yet now, in 2023, a major polling firm is reporting that a substantial minority (28 percent) of Americans suspect someone they know died from adverse events caused by Covid vaccination.

Suspicion, of course, is a far cry from proof. But the sheer prevalence of such suspicion should prompt serious inquiry from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public debate that isn’t quashed or watered down by censors.

The poll also found younger people were more likely than older people to say someone they know may have died due to side effects from the shot: 35 percent of adults under 40, compared to 28 percent of those aged 40 to 64, and only 14 percent of those over 65.