National survey finds J&J vaccine pause awareness high, yet more Americans are inclined to vaccinate

May 4, 2021

James Druckman, the Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science and Institute for Policy Research associate director is part of a university research consortium, comprising Northwestern, Harvard, Northeastern, and Rutgers, which investigated COVID-19 vaccine rates and attitudes among Americans.

The consortium surveyed more than 18,750 individuals across the U.S. to measure attitudes about vaccination between April 1 and 26. The survey suggests the pause of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine on April 13 did not have negative effects on vaccination attitudes. About 74% of respondents were aware of the pause, but vaccine hesitancy and resistance did not increase after the pause. However, after the pause respondents said they preferred Pfizer over Moderna and they preferred Moderna over J&J.

“This is an encouraging finding that people seem to understand and trust the reality that science requires due diligence, and the disruption should not be taken as news to not get the vaccine,” said Druckman.

Read the findings of this survey.

Faculty / Research / COVID-19 Research / Department of Political Science / James Druckman / Perspectives on the Pandemic

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