Over one-third of Americans believe public health officials are lying about the safety of coronavirus vaccines, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Friday found.

The survey asked, “Do you believe public health officials are lying about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines?”

Forty-four percent said no, but over one-third, 37 percent, believe they are lying. Another 19 percent remain unsure.

Opinions are sharply divided on party lines. A majority of Republicans, 53 percent, believe public health officials are lying, compared to 26 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independent voters who say the same.

The survey also found that viewers of conservative news outlets “have a better understanding of the risk of death from COVID-19 than do viewers of liberal channels.”

As Rasmussen reported:

According to Johns Hopkins University, the COVID-19 case-mortality rate – the percentage of diagnosed patients who have died from the disease – is 1.6% in the United States. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 30% of American Adults correctly estimate the rate as being less than 2%, while 20% believe the rate to be between 2% and 5%. Seventeen percent (17%) estimate the mortality rate to be in the 5%-10% range and 19% believe the rate is more than 10%. Another 14% say they’re not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

More viewers of Newsmax (40%) and Fox News (34%) correctly estimated the COVID-19 mortality rate than viewers of CNN (22%) or MSNBC (24%). Twenty-one percent (21%) of One America News (OAN) viewers correctly estimated the coronavirus mortality rate. Among Americans who say they don’t watch cable news at all, 38% correctly estimated the mortality rate as less than 2%.

The survey, taken August 26 and 29, 2021, among 1,000 U.S. adults, has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is perhaps one of the most vocal public health officials, flip-flopping his positions throughout the pandemic, particularly on the efficacy and use of masks and U.S. funding of the Wuhan lab.

An Economist/YouGov survey released last month found the vast majority of unvaccinated Americans indicated they remain firm in not getting vaccinated for the Chinese coronavirus.