1 in 5 still don’t plan to be vaccinated against COVID

About 1 in 5 American adults remain unwilling to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from The Monmouth University Poll released April 14.

The poll also finds that President Joe Biden is getting high marks for his handling of the pandemic. Nearly half of the public feels the country is heading in the right direction—an eight-year polling high for Monmouth.

The 21% of Americans still opposed to getting inoculated is down slightly from 24% in January and March. The number of those who wanted to wait and see how getting the shot for other people went has dropped from 21% to 12%.

“The number of people who have been skittish about the vaccine has dropped as more Americans line up for the shot, but the hardcore group who want to avoid it at all costs has barely budged. The recent news about J&J vaccines is probably not going to help that situation. On the other hand, it might not make it all that much worse since much of this reluctance is really ingrained in partisan identity,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in a prepared statement.

The poll found partisanship as a distinguishing factor among those who want to avoid the vaccine altogether: 43% of whom are Republican versus just 5% are Democrat. Another 22% of Independents say they want to avoid getting the vaccine as well.

Broken down by age, 25% of those unwilling to get vaccinated are under 65, and 11% are seniors; and white people and people of color are 22% and 20% interested in avoiding the vaccine if possible, respectively.

Approximately half (51%) of adults have received at least one shot, and 14% say they’ll line up for it as soon as they’re allowed.

Biden’s approval rating is now 54%, up last month from 51%. In his handling of the pandemic, 62% say Biden has done a good job while 31% say he’s done a bad job. Approximately 6 in 10 (63%) of respondents support the $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus package enacted last month, while 34% oppose it.

Congress, on the other hand, has a 35% approval and 56% disapproval rating, which matches the prior high recorded by Monmouth (35% in January 2021) in national polling going back to 2013. Those who say America is headed in the right direction has hit an eight-year high.

“It may be less than a majority, but the number of people who feel positive about the nation’s trajectory is easily at its highest point in a long time,” Murray said.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from April 8 to 12, 2021 with 800 adults. The margin of error is +/- 3.5%.