PHOENIX — Barely more than four out of 10 Arizonans say they intend to get innoculated for the novel H1N1 virus, a situation the state health director said could endanger many residents.

A new statewide survey found that 54 percent of those questioned said they had no intent to get the “swine flu’’ vaccine when it becomes readily available in Arizona. Another 5 percent said they were not sure.

Pollster Bruce Merrill who did the poll of 652 registered voters earlier this month for KAET-TV, the Phoenix PBS affiliate, said his surveyors heard a lot of questions being raised about the safety of the vaccine.

“I think the fact that it was rushed into production because of the short-term crisis, we had an awful lot of people that just basically don’t know that it’s safe,’’ he said. Merrill said people have heard reports that the vaccine did not get as much testing as it could have because of the need to get it on the streets as fast as possible.

“An awful lot of the people we talked to said either they were concerned with the safety because it hadn’t been really well tested and rushed into production,’’ Merrill said.

The fact the concern surrounds this specific vaccine is underlined by a separate poll question asking whether individuals have received or will get a regular flu shot this year. There, 58 percent responded in the affirmative, with 41 percent against and just 1 percent unsure.

Merrill said the other thing pollsters heard was that the new strain, despite all the hype “doesn’t seem to be that bad.’’

“And so, why would you risk getting a shot when you don’t know whether it’s safe or not when, for most people that get it (the H1N1 flu) it’s really pretty mild,’’ he said.

Both attitudes alarmed Will Humble, the interim state health director. He said just because there have not been daily headlines about deaths in the paper following the early alarm about the new strain does not mean there is no danger.

“The fact of the matter is, people are dropping,’’ Humble said.

“We’ve had way more than 40 people who have died from this virus since it came on the scene in April,’’ he continued. “It is serious. And it’s especially serious for folks with chronic medical conditions that are really at extreme risk for this thing.’’

But Humble said the fear of the vaccine will have impacts beyond the individuals who refuse to protect themselves.

“We really are after a ‘herd immunity effect’ where we get enough people vaccinated so we really start slowing the spread of this virus around the community,’’ he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the idea behind that is that if enough people in any community are protected, there is little chance of a disease spreading to those who cannot or will not be immunized. Conversely, with only a small percentage of people protected, the disease can spread more easily.

Humble also said stories about the lack of testing of the vaccine are false.

Humble said it probably isn’t surprising that some Arizonans do not trust statements by public health officials — people who work for the government — that the vaccine is safe. But Humble said he and his colleagues working for county health departments are not the only source of information.

“Sometimes people need to hear it from their physician or from somebody in their family they trust who really understands the facts,’’ he said.

“If you don’t believe me as a public health official, and you don’t believe Dr. Bob (England) over at Maricopa County, talk to your doctor,’’ Humble continued. “Most likely they’ll say, ‘Boy, it’s the best thing you can do for your family and your community.’ ‘’

The survey has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.