Unvaccinated Americans say the need for boosters proves Covid

The divide in attitudes on Covid-19 vaccines between people who’ve gotten or not gotten the shots hasn’t changed with the introduction of booster shots.

In fact, vaccinated people say the third dose approved by U.S. regulators last week shows that scientists are trying to make the shots more effective while 71% of unvaccinated Americans say it’s proof the vaccines don’t work, according to a survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Nearly 80% of vaccinated respondents see booster shots as a good sign.

“We have seen for sure that the vaccinated and unvaccinated have viewed the pandemic very differently,” said Liz Hamel, the foundation’s director of public opinion and survey research. “It’s not really surprising to me that they view the conversation around booster shots differently.”

Those still yet to receive a shot are among the “strongest holdouts,” Hamel said, adding that the unvaccinated are more likely to believe the severity of the pandemic has been exaggerated, are less worried about getting sick, and have viewed the safety and efficacy of the vaccines differently compared to those who are vaccinated.

Kaiser surveyed 1,519 randomly selected adults from Sept. 13 through Sept. 22, after the Biden administration announced plans to roll out booster doses to all Americans, but before federal health officials recommended boosters for people 65 and older and those at high risk of illness. 

The split in attitudes toward vaccines more broadly continues to be a largely partisan one, the survey data shows, with 90% of respondents who are Democrats saying they have received at least one vaccine dose compared with 58% of Republicans. 

That division by political identity has remained steady at about 30 percentage points since vaccines became widely available in the spring, Hamel said, even as other gaps along lines of race and ethnicity have narrowed. 

The surge in Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to the delta variant was the main motivator for a recent uptick in vaccinations, the survey found, with the largest increases in vaccination rates between July and September seen among Hispanic adults and those ages 18 to 29. Similar shares of white, Black, and Hispanic adults reported being vaccinated, at 71%, 70%, and 73%, respectively, saying they have had at least one shot. Hamel noted that a separate Kaiser analysis of state-reported data published last week found that Black and Hispanic Americans were still less likely than white Americans to have received a vaccine, but that the disparity across groups was narrowing over time.

The political split on vaccines extends to the public’s plans to get a booster shot, as 68% of Democrats said they will “definitely” get one if recommended,…