According to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s newest study on vaccine attitudes, issued on Tuesday morning. The fear of Delta is not a reward or mandate, it motivates Americans to get shots, a survey finds. The Delta variant of the coronavirus was the main reason people decided to get vaccinated against Covid-19 this summer, and most said they will get boosters when eligible. However, the survey found that nearly three-quarters of unvaccinated Americans have a totally different opinion of boosters.
This disparity shows that, while it may be relatively straightforward to persuade vaccinated persons to line up for another shot, the necessity for boosters may hamper public health authorities’ efforts to persuade the remaining unvaccinated people to get their first.
Another lesson from the Kaiser Family Foundation survey: For all the carrots dangled to entice people to get Covid shots — cash, doughnuts, racetrack privileges — the stick deserves more credit for the current increase in vaccination. Almost 40% of newly immunised people stated they sought the vaccines due to a rise in Covid cases, with more than a third concerned about overcrowding in local hospitals and increased death rates.
“When a potential threat becomes a clear and present danger, people are more inclined to take action to protect themselves and their loved ones,” said Drew Altman, chief executive of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The nationally representative survey of 1,519 people was conducted from September 13 to 22 — during a period of rising Covid deaths, but before the government authorised boosters for millions of high-risk people who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, including those 65 and older, as well as adults of any age whose job puts them at high risk of infection.
Sweeteners did have a role in receiving shots in the arms. One-third of those polled stated they had gotten vaccinated in order to travel or attend events where vaccinations were required.
In the study, 72 percent of adults reported they were at least partially vaccinated, up from 67 percent in late July. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 77 percent of adults in the United States have had at least one vaccination. The most dramatic improvement this month was in Latino vaccination rates, which increased by 12 percentage points since late July to 73 percent of Latino individuals who have had at least one shot.
With the racial disparity in vaccination closing, the partisan divide has grown by far the biggest, with 90 percent of Democrats stating they had received at least one shot.
