The general public of America’s perception towards vaccination has not changed amid the worsening health crisis. In fact, the number of people who have or have not received the shots has not improved since the introduction of booster shots.
According to a survey released on Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, vaccinated people believe the third dose approved by US regulators last week demonstrates that scientists are attempting to make the shots more effective, while 71 % of unvaccinated Americans believe it exemplifies that the vaccines do not work. Nevertheless, booster shots have been regarded positively by about 80% of vaccinated respondents.
Liz Hamel, the foundation’s director of public opinion and survey research, said they know for a fact that the vaccinated and unvaccinated have completely different perspectives on the pandemic. To her, it is not shocking that Americans have differing perspectives on the booster shots, too.
Vials Of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot (Photo: Christof Stache/Getty Images)
From September 13 to September 22, Kaiser surveyed 1,519 randomly selected adults after the Biden administration disclosed intentions to roll out booster shots to all Americans but before federal health officials suggested boosters for persons 65 and older and those at significant risk of illness.
Other Relevant Findings of the Survey
According to the poll findings, the divide in opinions toward vaccines remains relatively consistent, with 90% of Democrats reporting having gotten at least one vaccine dosage, compared to 58% of Republicans. That difference in political identification has stayed stable at around 30 percentage points since vaccines became generally available in the spring, according to Hamel, even as other divides by race and ethnicity have declined.
The survey indicated that the increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths owing to the delta variant was the primary incentive for a recent increase in vaccinations, with Hispanic adults and those aged 18 to 29 experiencing the greatest increases in vaccination rates between July and September.
Similar proportions of white, Black, and Hispanic individuals reported getting vaccinated, with 71%, 70%, and 73%, respectively, stating they got at least one shot. Hamel pointed out that a separate Kaiser review of state-reported data published this week revealed that Black and Hispanic Americans were still less likely to have had a vaccine than white Americans, but that the gap between groups was decreasing over time.
The political divide on vaccines extends to the public’s plans to obtain a booster shot, with Democrats saying they will “certainly” get one if advised, nearly twice the number of Republican respondents.
Overall, the vast majority of fully vaccinated individuals said they would “definitely” or “probably” receive a booster if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended it.
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