A series of recent survey questions show a clear majority is on board with various groups of workers, such as health care workers, government employees or teachers, being required to get vaccine or stop working. But a clear split remains over requiring a broader range of employees to get vaccinated — unless they are given the option of being tested weekly for Covid to remain unvaccinated.
“There seems to be slightly more acceptance of the idea of mandates,” said said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at KFF, the health care think tank that is one of the groups conducting the surveys. “But I wouldn’t call it popular.”
Both found just over 60% of those surveyed support vaccine mandates for employees at hospitals and other health care facilities. The Gallup survey also found that 60% support vaccines for federal government employees, while KFF found 55% supporting such a mandate. Both those specific groups would likely be required to get vaccinated under the Biden administration proposal.
A clear majority favored vaccine requirements for teachers and other school staff, with 63% support in the Gallup reading and 58% in KFF.
The KFF survey found 50% opposed to the employers in general requiring vaccination, compared to 48% supporting. However that jumped to 58% support if the option for vaccination or testing was included. Gallup also found 58% supporting the requirement of vaccination or testing for businesses with 100 or more workers.
Gallup also found that 58% of workers would strongly or somewhat favor their own employers requiring vaccine, even without a testing option. That’s up from 52% support back in an August survey and only 42% support in May.
By comparison KFF found that 50% did not want their own employers to require a vaccination. It also found that 19% worked for employers who already required a vaccination and 28% would like their employers to institute such a rule.
Both surveys found that the percent working for employers with such rules has risen steadily in recent months. In KFF’s June survey, only 9% were working under an employer vaccination mandate. Gallup found an even bigger rise, from only 6% facing a vaccination mandate at their work in June to 29% in September.
Unsurprisingly, the KFF survey found a wide split in views on employers requiring vaccines for all but those with a medical reason not to get the shot. It found 85% of unvaccinated people opposed such rules ,and 13% of those unvaccinated said they’d support such a rule. Hamel said it’s possible some intend to get a shot if required, or perhaps because they can’t get a shot themselves for medical reasons and want to work among others who are vaccinated.
KFF also found that 62% of the vaccinated supporting the stricter employer vaccine mandates, with no testing option. But even among those who have been vaccinated, 36% oppose such a mandate.
More News
Opinion | Senators Need to Stop the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
Timeline of Recent Twists and Turns in Gaza Cease-fire Talks
Hochul Apologizes for Saying ‘Black Kids’ Don’t Know the Word ‘Computer’