A man wears a “NOT VACCINATED” T-shirt in front of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally at York Family Farms on August 21, 2021 in Cullman, Alabama.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
A new CNBC / Change Research survey reveals that Americans who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 are largely motivated by government distrust and fears about the side effects of vaccines, and there is very little that can be done to convince them to receive the shots.
Change Research surveyed 1,775 CNBC respondents from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 about the views of Americans on Covid vaccines, President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and other issues.
Among 29% of U.S. voters who are not vaccinated, 83% say they have no plans to do so to save lives, according to the survey. A frustrated Biden on Thursday outlined a series of new test and vaccine warrants for federal workers and contractors, as well as for healthcare and private enterprise workers.
“What’s more to look forward to? What else do you have to see? We’ve made vaccines free, safe and convenient. The vaccine has FDA approval, more than 200 million Americans have received at least one shot.” , said Biden. “We’ve had patience, but our patience is running out and the refusal has cost us all. So do the right thing.”
Of the unvaccinated respondents, 84% said their decision against vaccination would not change if the vaccines had no side effects and 87% said they would still not get the vaccines if their employer required them. Only 5% and 4% of respondents, respectively, said these things would make them “much more likely” to change their minds, according to the survey. Pressure from family members made little difference, with only 2% saying it would make them much more likely to get shot.
The growing vacillation of the vaccine could make it difficult to achieve up to 90% of the vaccination rate that some health officials have suggested is necessary to achieve herd immunity to Covid nationwide.
“It’s time for people to understand that there is no herd immunity in sight that allows this virus to go away and not return,” Dr. Bruce Farber, head of infectious diseases at Northwell Health in New York, told CNBC. September 1 interview. “And we will live with this virus in the same way we will live with the flu in the foreseeable future.”
34% of unvaccinated respondents said they were hesitant to receive the vaccines because they did not trust the federal government, while another 34% were concerned about the side effects of the vaccine. Less than 10% of unvaccinated respondents said they would be more likely to get vaccinated if the delta variant was more problematic in their community and 7% said they would be vaccinated if Trump asked them to.
“There also seems to be something specific for COVID-19 at work, because 56% of the unvaccinated report has received a flu shot in the past,” the survey said.
The divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated was especially evident along the political lines, with 60% of Republicans and 87% of Trump voters in last year’s presidential election responding that they were not vaccinated. in the survey. In comparison, 49% of Democrats and 68% of Biden voters in 2020 said they were fully vaccinated.
The survey found that 53% of unvaccinated respondents said they were less likely to receive vaccines after top U.S. health officials endorsed Covid’s reinforcements on Aug. 18 for vaccines against measles. ‘MRNA because this protection decreases over time. But 73% of vaccinated voters said they would eventually receive their third dose.
Despite their resistance to immunization against Covid, unvaccinated respondents seemed more willing to adopt therapeutic treatments if the doctor recommended it after a positive diagnosis of Covid. The survey found that 44% of unvaccinated voters answered “maybe” when asked if they would accept intravenous monoclonal or antiviral antibodies, compared with 33% of unvaccinated respondents who said they would reject antibodies and 34% who would refuse the antiviral.
With students returning to face-to-face learning and employers returning to staff in the office, the survey also collected voters ’thoughts on mask requirements in schools and vaccination warrants in the workplace. Among parents of children under the age of 18, 51% support mask mandates for teachers, while 47% believe schools should make students wear face masks.
The survey reported strong support for employers ’vaccination mandates, with 55% of voters agreeing to inoculation requirements for private company staff. And 67% of respondents said companies should be allowed to meet mask requirements for customers.
“One of the things that probably led someone to get vaccinated was if their employer required it,” the survey found.