A national poll finds that nearly half (47%) of previously vaccinated respondents are booster hesitant or resistant, showing only a modest change in conviction, even after the World Health Organization recently (WHO) announced the risk posed by the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
“This suggests that the early stages of omicron did not alter vaccine intentions, however, that well may change as it continues to spread,” said James Druckman, the Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and IPR political scientist. He co-leads the COVID States Project.
“This is not as surprising as it may appear at first glance — when the vaccinations first began, we saw a lot of hesitancy that dissipated once more and more people became vaccinated,” Druckman said.
Other key findings of the report:
- Older respondents are much more likely than their younger counterparts to have received a booster shot, with respondents over age 65 four times as likely as Gen Z respondents (ages 18-24), by 53% to 13%.
- As education increases, the probability of having received a booster increases (from 22% among respondents with a high school education or less to 46% among their counterparts with graduate degrees).
Learn more about this poll in Northwestern Now and read the full report here.