Over half of Americans concerned by fellow citizens refusing to be vaccinated – poll

New polling shows that Americans are three times more concerned with people in their areas not getting vaccinated against Covid-19 than they are with the availability or distribution of the jabs.

People’s satisfaction with the rollout of Covid-19 jabs is on the rise, according to Gallup’s latest survey of over 3,700 adults, with 76% percent of respondents saying they are pleased with the overall distribution of the vaccines. That percentage is up from 68% in a Gallup poll last month and up from 34% in January data. 

The main concern among Americans appears to be vaccine hesitancy from their fellow citizens. While over half of American adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine, 55% of those surveyed said they are concerned about people in their local areas choosing not to get vaccinated. Among that group, 28% are “very” worried and 27% are “moderately” worried. Another 16% said they are “not too” worried, while 30% are not concerned.

Broken down by party line, over 80% of Democrats are concerned about others in their communities being vaccinated, while only 23% of Republicans have the same worries. 

Relatively unconcerning to people appears to be the availability of vaccines, with only 15% expressing concern, and nearly half of respondents (46%) saying they are not worried at all.

Willingness to get vaccinated seems to be rising too, as 75% of adults say they are already vaccinated or plan to be. A quarter of respondents say they are unwilling to be vaccinated – the lowest figure Gallup has measured in the area to date. 

The main reason for vaccine hesitancy is that people are preferring to wait out of fear inoculation may not be safe (24%), while others feel the health effects from Covid-19 would not be serious if contracted (21%). 

Those identifying as Republicans remain the least likely to be willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine, with 53% saying they have already taken one or are willing to, compared to 69% percent among Independents and 95% among Democrats. The Gallup poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percent.

As restrictions on vaccine availability have eased and more people are getting inoculated, supply has begun to outpace demand, leading some health officials to worry about how many will simply opt out of getting vaccinated. CVS Health, the parent company of the CVS pharmacy chain, has been helping distribute vaccinations and announced this week that demand for the jabs at their locations has dipped approximately 30% in just the last few days.

“We have kind of passed the wave of people who really wanted to get it and who signed up,” CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch said about the slowing pace. 

A CBS News report also revealed that at least 22 states are not ordering their full vaccine allotments due to the falling demand.

President Joe Biden has stated his goal is for 70% of US adults to have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by July 4. 

“Now we're going to have to bring the vaccine to people who are less eager,” Biden said Tuesday. “So we also know that there are millions of Americans who just need a little bit of encouragement to get the shot.”

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