33% of unvaccinated Individuals say they’ll by no means get vaccinated
- Americans are twice as likely to be stabbed as their British counterparts.
- 39% of Americans don’t get vaccinated because they “don’t trust the government”.
- The US government has a serious way to go in convincing Americans to get vaccinated.
The data and results of the most recent United States and United Kingdom vaccination hesitation survey, released today, show that the US government has a serious road ahead of us to convince its citizens of the importance of vaccination.
33% of unvaccinated Americans say they will never get vaccinated
The survey was conducted from August 5, 2021 to August 17, 2021 and interviewed approximately 5,000 respondents in the US and 1,000 respondents in the UK. The data was collected using a novel approach in which smartphone users were paid as “gig workers” to participate and resulted in significant responses in the thousands to date, with more to come.
The results showed important differences between unvaccinated populations in the US and the UK and show different levels of resistance to the vaccination. The survey also shows possible openings that could be used to encourage unvaccinated people to be vaccinated.
Here are some of the key findings from the survey:
- Americans were twice as likely to have missed a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (45%) as their British counterparts (23%).
- 33% of unvaccinated Americans and 23% of unvaccinated British citizens said they would never get vaccinated.
- Of those currently not vaccinated, 39% of Americans and 33% of UK participants said they wouldn’t get vaccinated because they don’t trust the government.
- Of those currently not vaccinated, 46% of UK participants said they would get vaccinated if there was more evidence that the vaccines were working, compared to just 21% of unvaccinated Americans.
- Only 7% of American unvaccinated participants said they did not get vaccinated because they did not think COVID was a real danger, but 33% of UK unvaccinated participants cited this as a justification.
These results suggest that public health officials in the US and UK are facing unique challenges in convincing their respective unvaccinated populations to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. With 69% of the UK’s unvaccinated population ready to be vaccinated once they have more information on testing, safety or effectiveness (compared to just 49% of Americans who are not vaccinated), the path seems easier for UK decision-makers. On the other hand, US politicians have to deal with larger sections of the population who have stated that they will never and will not get vaccinated because they distrust the government.
