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Poll: Vaccine hesitancy at lowest level yet, thanks to mandates



The number of American adults who say they are not likely to get a coronavirus vaccine has fallen to the lowest levels yet, according to the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index — a sign that the Delta variant, FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, and vaccine mandates are having the effect of convincing reluctant Americans to get their shots.

Only 1 in 5 Americans (20%) who responded to the survey now say they are not likely to get the coronavirus vaccine. Just 14% of survey respondents said they are not at all likely to get vaccinated, the lowest level of opposition the Axios-Ipsos poll has registered since it began surveying Americans on the vaccines.

The number of parents who say they are likely to have their children vaccinated has increased at the same time. Two-thirds of parents (68%) now say they are likely to have their children vaccinated or already have done so. Only 31% of parents said they were opposed to vaccinating their kids.

The largest driver of this shift in vaccine hesitancy appears to be private sector vaccine mandates. One in three unvaccinated Americans surveyed said full FDA approval of one or more coronavirus vaccines would make them more likely to take the vaccine. But 43% said they would be more likely to take the vaccine if their employer required it, a 10-point increase from a previous version of the survey from last month.

Survey respondents indicated that more employers are indeed requiring vaccination at their workplaces. Two weeks ago the survey found that 16% of respondents said vaccines were required at their workplaces, now that number has risen to 19%. Similarly, the number of people who said teachers or government workers where they live were being required to get the vaccine has risen from 34% two weeks ago to 40% now.

"Schools, organizations, companies, governments implementing mandates are forcing people to deal with them," Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs president Cliff Young told Axios. "That's what going on."

Overall, 72% of adults surveyed said they've already taken the vaccine and another 8% said they were likely to take it.

The remaining 20% that said they are not very likely (6%) or not at all likely (14%) to get vaccinated is the lowest level of opposition to the vaccines recorded by the poll, down from 34% in March and 23% even two weeks ago.

At the same time, concerns appear to be rising over the coronavirus. Three in five Americans (60%) say that returning to their pre-pandemic lifestyles right now would be a large or moderate risk, the highest level recorded since March.

Additionally, 78% of Americans are at least somewhat concerned about the COVID-19 outbreak at this time and 80% are concerned about the Delta variant spreading in the U.S.

As a consequence, some Americans are returning to masking and social distancing as precautionary measures against the COVID-19 spread. Half of Americans surveyed reported that they are staying home and avoiding others as much as possible. And 69% of Americans said they are using a mask some or all of the time.

Surgeon general says Americans should expect more vaccine mandates following FDA approval of Pfizer vaccine



The U.S. Surgeon General on Sunday told Americans to expect more private businesses to implement vaccine mandates following the FDA's full approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

"For businesses and universities that have been thinking about putting vaccine requirements in place in order to create safer spaces for people to work and learn, I think that this move from the FDA ... will actually help them to move forward with those kinds of plans," U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday.

The Food and Drug Administration acted Monday to give full approval to the Pfizer vaccine after previously authorizing the emergency use of three COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.

Pfizer's vaccine was approved after months of review for quality, safety, and effectiveness.

"The FDA's approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA's rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product," Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D, said.

"Our scientific and medical experts conducted an incredibly thorough and thoughtful evaluation of this vaccine. We evaluated scientific data and information included in hundreds of thousands of pages, conducted our own analyses of Comirnaty's safety and effectiveness, and performed a detailed assessment of the manufacturing processes, including inspections of the manufacturing facilities," Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said.

"We have not lost sight that the COVID-19 public health crisis continues in the U.S. and that the public is counting on safe and effective vaccines. The public and medical community can be confident that although we approved this vaccine expeditiously, it was fully in keeping with our existing high standards for vaccines in the U.S," he added.

The FDA's full approval of the COVID-19 vaccines is widely expected to give a measure of assurance to vaccine-hesitant Americans and perhaps convince some who have not yet been vaccinated to get shots.

Large corporations including Google, Disney, Facebook, McDonald's, Twitter, and many more are already requiring that workers get vaccinated before returning to the office. Local and state governments have also implemented vaccine requirements for employees, though several states with Republican governors have moved to ban local officials from imposing vaccine or mask mandates.

According to MarketWatch, some employers face lingering concerns on imposing vaccine requirements, citing resistance from employees or the effect it will have on company culture and morale. With many businesses struggling to find workers to fill positions, some employers don't want to alienate potential hires by requiring vaccination.

However, a Gallup poll published last week suggested that most workers are in favor of vaccine mandates. A plurality of 36% of U.S. workers surveyed said they strongly favor vaccine mandates, and 52% of workers overall support the requirements.

COVID-19 vaccines remain effective at preventing severe illness and death, except in exceedingly rare cases, but as CDC Director Rochelle Walensky noted two weeks ago, "What they can't do anymore is prevent transmission."

That's because the Delta variant, which is more contagious than previous variants of the virus, has demonstrated it is capable of causing breakthrough infections among those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

For the vast majority of people who have been vaccinated, breakthrough infections of COVID-19 cause only mild symptoms.

The risk of infection and severe disease or death remains much higher for unvaccinated individuals. The CDC recommends that everyone age 12 years old and older should get vaccinated to be protected from COVID-19.

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that preventable hospitalizations of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients has cost the U.S. health care system over $2 billion.