The number of vaccine hesitant Americans is shrinking, according to a new Axios/Ipsos poll, as holdouts reckon with the highly transmissible delta variant. Employer vaccine mandates and the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer jab has also buoyed demand.
According to Axios, “Fewer adults than ever now say they won’t take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it’s allowed.”
In April, 19% of Americans said they were “not at all likely” to get inoculated. Now, just 14% of the U.S. population makes that claim.
Axios explains that employer vaccine mandates have played an outsized role in that change: “One in three unvaccinated Americans in the survey said FDA approval would make them likely to take the vaccine. But 43% said their boss requiring vaccinations would make them likely to do so, up from 33% a month ago.”
Currently, “19% [of respondents] said their employers are requiring all workers to get vaccinated, up from 16% two weeks ago.”
Many parents are also changing their minds on vaccinating their children. In the beginning of August, 44% of parents said they were “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to get their kids vaccinated. Not that number stands at 30%.
According to the poll, “72% of adults now say they’ve already taken the vaccine. Another 8% say they’re likely to take it.”
The poll also found that most Americans support mask requirements.
- Almost seven in ten (69%) support their local school districts requiring teachers, students, and administrators to wear masks in schools. Mask requirements in schools have broad support among the public, with no significant difference in support among parents (68%) and non-parents (70%).
- Two-thirds (64%) support their state or local government requiring masks to be worn in all public places.