Double Dose 2
US public opinion on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines
Just over a year since the first confirmed U.S. coronavirus case, the toll the pandemic has taken in every corner of the country is staggering — 25 million cases and over 400,000 deaths. Despite the dark winter ahead, though, there is hope on the horizon. Two vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer — both requiring two doses a few weeks apart — are steadily making their way to healthcare workers and the most vulnerable Americans. President Biden declared Monday that he’s aiming for the U.S. to administer 1.5 million doses a day, up 50% from the current rate of 1 million a day. He added that he anticipates that every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get it by “this spring.”
That’s a tall order given logistical challenges such as staffing, scheduling, and stockpile shortages. The tricky rollout — along with the danger of two new more contagious virus variants emerging in the last two months — has led some scientists and public health experts to propose adapting the U.S. response to the more aggressive U.K.’s. In Britain officials are administering as much of the first dose as possible even if it leads to a shortage of the second dose. Two doses are shown to be 95% effective against the virus, while one reduces one’s chance of contracting the virus by 80–90%. Currently, in the U.S., there are millions of doses that have been delivered but are being held in reserve for second doses. For more insight, we asked Americans their view on reserving shots as well as their thoughts on how the vaccine rollout is going so far and if they believe the current vaccines will be effective against the new mutant strains. Here are the three biggest takeaways:
A Stumble Out of the Gate
1.8 million. That’s the number of doses administered per day required to reach herd immunity by summer, according to the CDC. The current rate? One million a day, with 20.5 million doses administered so far, or about 5.8% of the U.S. population. That’s just above the number of vaccinations U.S. officials promised by the end of last year. That could be why about half of Americans (49%) say the vaccine rollout is going “poorly” or “very poorly” compared to just 21% who say it’s going “well” or “very well.” Democrats and Independents are the most critical, with 63% and 53% respectively unimpressed by the rollout compared to 30% of Republicans, while another 34% of GOP respondents said they are pleased with it. Not everyone agreed the rollout should be happening at all. About 16% of Republicans and 7% of Independents said they don’t believe in the efficacy of the vaccine.
Too Late to Wait
Though daily case and death counts have decreased in recent days, President Biden warned last week that total COVID-deaths could top 500,000 by the end of February at current rates of infection, stating that “things are going to continue to get worse before they get better.” That alarming number makes the scramble for vaccinations that much more urgent, and 41% of Americans believe that the millions of doses in reserve should be used now to give others first shots compared to 45% who say they should stay reserved. Curiously, 50% of male respondents were more inclined to reserve doses than females (39%).
Mutant Protection
One virus variant emerged in South Africa, the other in Britain. A report from the U.K. last week says the British strain could be deadlier than other versions of the virus. Both are far more contagious than the common coronavirus. Moderna and Pfizer have both said their vaccines protect against both strains, but may not be as effective against the South African strain. To keep up, Moderna has announced that they are developing a booster shot to fight off the variants, but 48% of Americans say the new strains have substantially increased their coronavirus concern, sharply split on political lines (76% of Democrats compared to 16% of Republicans). Trust in current vaccines and testing, though, is still high with just over half of Americans saying they believe the new variants will not render existing vaccines and testing less effective, including a plurality of respondents from every political affiliation.
Related Polls:
Six years ago, a plurality of Americans (45%) said, except in rare cases, that people should be compelled to take vaccines compared to 40% of respondents who said they were pro-vaccine, but people should be able to make up their own mind about getting them. Only 5% said they were against taking them at all.
Last April, a plurality of respondents (24%) predicted that it would be a year and a half (fall 2021) before they would have access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine followed closely by 22% who guessed one year (spring 2021).
Two months ago, we asked Americans which vaccine they would choose to receive if they were both available in the spring. At the time, 11% or respondents — mostly Republicans — said they didn’t intend to get the vaccine. When we asked a similar question a month later, that number had grown to 15%, including nearly a quarter of Republicans and Independents.
by Landry Harlan
