At the time of writing, more than 50% of Americans have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 40% are fully vaccinated. As a result of the availability of the vaccine and reduced hospitalization rates related to the pandemic, many states across the country have eased or eliminated their masking policies.
And while many see these major milestones as progress in the effort to return to normalcy, others are less convinced that a COVID-19 vaccine needs to be part of the equation. Millions of Americans have expressed hesitation and even skepticism regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, vowing that they’ll never receive it.
One of the reasons cited by those against vaccinations or resistant to immunization is a concern about how effective the COVID-19 vaccine is in protecting against infection. For a closer look at vaccination confidence in America, we surveyed over 1,000 people about their vaccine-related opinions. Read on as we explore how many Americans trust the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine; what their primary reason for getting vaccinated is/was; why some distrust the vaccine; and how Americans feel about vaccinating children.
Positive Sentiment Toward the COVID-19 Vaccine
In 2020, scientists from all across the world came together to start work on and produce a vaccine for COVID-19. In December 2020, the first Pfizer vaccine was approved for distribution, marking a major turning point in the pandemic. Among those surveyed, 70% said they were extremely to very confident in the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, followed by 24% who were somewhat to slightly confident, and just 6% who said they weren’t at all confident. Democrats (83%) were 26 percentage points more likely than Republicans (57%) to identify as extremely or very confident, and 10% of Republicans polled expressed not being confident at all.
We found that 79% of Americans supported getting the COVID-19 vaccine, while 10% were neutral, and another 12% opposed it. Support was 23 percentage points higher among Democrats than Republicans, while 22% of Republicans admitted to opposing the vaccine. Republicans have also been vocal in their opposition of a “vaccine passport” that would provide a solution for vaccinated adults to identify themselves when traveling or attending an event. In Florida, Republican lawmakers have even threatened to fine cruise lines for requesting proof of vaccination prior to allowing passengers entry. Overwhelmingly, 71% of Americans expressed confidence in the Pfizer vaccine, compared to 52% for Moderna, and 18% for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
Deciding Factors for Getting Vaccinated
Among those who had received a vaccine, the most common versions were Pfizer (39%) and Moderna (25%), followed by Johnson & Johnson (6%). Four percent of people were unable to recall which version they received. Studies of the vaccines say that Pfizer is 95% effective in preventing symptomatic infections versus 94.1% for Moderna and 72% for Johnson & Johnson. More than a quarter of people surveyed acknowledged they had not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine. Americans who received the Pfizer vaccine (88%) were more likely to report feeling highly confident about the vaccine’s efficacy, compared to those who received Moderna (85%) or Johnson & Johnson (75%).
When asked why they chose to get vaccinated, 62% indicated it was out of care for the health of others, followed by those who said it was the right thing to do (58%), because they wanted to travel (53%), and to achieve herd immunity (51%). Compared to 46% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats indicated they chose to take the vaccine out of care for others’ health. Despite the political division, just 13% of Americans said they felt encouraged by a political figure to become vaccinated.
Rejecting the COVID-19 Vaccine
Regardless of the information available, test results, and trial data, millions of Americans remain untrusting of the COVID-19 vaccine.
When asked why they distrusted the COVID-19 vaccine, 68% of Americans said it was because the vaccines were still too experimental, a position more likely to be held by younger generations (72%) compared to Generation Xers and baby boomers (63%). Another 62% of people indicated their mistrust was a result of vaccines being approved for distribution too quickly, including 67% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats. Sixty percent of Americans said they were worried about adverse side effects from the vaccine, followed by concerns about safety in general (58%), and the vaccine technology being too new (53%). More than 3 in 4 unvaccinated people also admitted their vaccination status had not prevented them from going to social events, traveling, or attending work functions.
Stopping the spread of misinformation around COVID-19 has been a challenge from the onset of the pandemic. While 38% of Americans who distrust the vaccines said they got their data and news regarding COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or other government websites, 36% said their information came from friends, followed by Fox News (32%) and Google (30%). Nearly 1 in 4 Americans said they received news and data regarding COVID-19 from Facebook.
Plans for Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19
The CDC currently recommends that everyone aged 12 and older should receive the COVID-19 vaccine, though pediatric trials are currently underway for children younger. Among parents with young children, 62% were extremely to very confident in the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, followed by those somewhat confident (28%) or not at all (10%).
Regarding children, we found the political divide regarding the COVID-19 vaccine even steeper. Compared to 74% of Democrats who were extremely confident in the efficacy of vaccines for children, just 49% of Republicans said the same. Nearly 1 in 5 Republican parents with young children said they were not at all confident in the COVID-19 vaccine.
The most common fears were of adverse side effects (34%), general safety concerns (30%), vaccines being too experimental (28%), and allergic reactions (27%). While a third of parents with children aged 11 or younger were definitely planning to have their children vaccinated, 40% said they probably would, and the other 26% said they either probably or definitely would not have their children vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Results You Need, When You Need Them
More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, some things are finally starting to return to normal. And while the widespread availability and adoption of the COVID-19 vaccine has played a major role in reducing the transmission of the disease, millions of Americans have no plans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine themselves. As we found, the most common reasons for getting the vaccine were to protect the health of others and because people felt it was the right thing to do, while those rejecting the vaccine claimed to be worried about the newness and safety of it.
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Methodology and Limitations
We surveyed 1,021 people about their feelings toward the COVID-19 vaccines. Among them, 53% were men, 46% were women, and 1% identified as nonbinary. Respondents’ age ranged from 23 to 64 years old with an average age of 39.
For political breakdowns, the sample sizes were:
Democrats: 508
Republicans: 257
Independent: 184
Unaffiliated: 37
Other: 35
For short, open-ended questions, outliers were removed. To help ensure that all respondents took our survey seriously, they were required to identify and correctly answer an attention-check question.
These data rely on self-reporting by the respondents and are only exploratory. Issues with self-reported responses include but aren’t limited to exaggeration, selective memory, telescoping, attribution, and bias. All values are based on estimation.
Fair Use Statement
Are your readers curious about the COVID-19 vaccine? We encourage you to share the results of this study for any noncommercial use with the inclusion of a link back to this page so they have full access to our findings and methodology.