More than half of Americans believe that unvaccinated people should not be allowed to return to the office or use public spaces.
An increasing number of people in the United States want to receive the coronavirus vaccine, and most also support workplace, lifestyle and travel restrictions for those not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a survey released Friday. -market.
The national opinion poll conducted by Reuters / Ipsos found that 54% of respondents said they were “very interested” in getting vaccinated. That was above a January survey, when 41 percent expressed the same level of interest, and 38 percent in a May 2020 survey before a coronavirus vaccine was developed.
In the midst of a limited supply of vaccination doses, most states still prioritize frontline workers, the elderly and those with underlying health problems.
According to the survey, 55 percent agreed that unvaccinated people should not exercise at public gyms, enter cinemas or attend public shows. [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]
United States President Joe Biden, in an important speech on Thursday, called on American states to make vaccines open to all adults by May, to pave the way for economic and social life to resume by 4 July, United States Independence Day holiday.
Interest in the vaccine has increased in the last year among whites and racial minorities, with about six out of 10 whites and five out of 10 members of minority groups now expressing a high level of interest.
According to the survey, 27% of Americans said they were not interested in being vaccinated, relatively unchanged from a similar survey conducted in May.
But, foreshadowing the social challenges that may arise as the United States begins to emerge from the year-old pandemic, the latest research has shown that most Americans want to limit the ways in which unvaccinated people can mix in public.
Seventy-two percent of Americans said it was important to know “if people around me were vaccinated,” according to the survey.
People waving after leaving a Disneyland parking lot that has been transformed into a mass vaccination site in Anaheim, California, USA [File: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters]
The majority – 62 percent – said that unvaccinated people should not be allowed to travel by plane. Fifty-five percent agreed that unvaccinated people should not exercise at public gyms, enter cinemas or attend public shows.
When asked about the workplace, 60% of Americans said they wanted to work for an employer “who requires everyone to get a coronavirus vaccine before they return to the office” and 56% think unvaccinated workers should stay home.
Soon, companies may experience increasing pressure to address these concerns. About 18% of the population in the United States has already received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said the survey responses made sense, given the social restrictions imposed on everyone last year.
“People are saying, ‘If I get vaccinated, it will change my life,'” said Adalja. “’And if you are not vaccinated, the choice is yours. But you will have a different status because you may be a carrier of this virus, so you can spread it to someone who is not vaccinated. ‘”