Although the majority of Americans have reached vaccine confidence, there is still a small percentage that are holding onto hesitations. In order to close the gap, it’s important to understand the reasons behind these hesitations and to have meaningful, open discussions that can help ease the burden of confusion or fear.
While most population segments are willing to vaccinate, right-leaning Americans and black/African Americans represent the most hesitation, with loss of freedoms and side effects being the main causes for concern. In fact, 16% of right-leaning Americans cite freedom of choice as the reason they are unlikely to vaccinate, and 7% say it’s fear of side effects.
Among racial groups, African-Americans hold the largest percentage of hesitancy based on these two reasons, at 4.5% for each.
Although belief in vaccine safety does differ a bit across political parties, safety actually holds a high percentage across the board, with the lowest percentage being 77% for the right.
Research into the vaccine confidence issue actually shows that, aside from a slight gap among right-leaning Americans, race, geography, and political affiliation aren’t determinants of who is willing to vaccinate and who isn’t. In fact, research shows that incentives, convenience, and positive dialogue are keys to closing the gap among all Americans.
