Here’s what NC residents say about COVID vaccines — and whether they’ll get boosters
Most unvaccinated North Carolinians polled this month said they aren’t budging on the COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new survey released Friday by Elon University.
Roughly two-thirds of unvaccinated survey respondents said they were unlikely to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Fewer than a quarter of unvaccinated respondents said they were likely to get the vaccine.
More than 1,200 North Carolinians were surveyed in an Elon University Poll about COVID-19 between Oct. 15 and Oct. 17.
More than 850 people, or about 70% of the respondents, said they had already gotten a COVID-19 vaccine.
All respondents were age 18 or older. The rate reported in the survey is roughly on par with the state’s overall vaccination rate among residents age 18 and up — 71% have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccines as of Thursday, according to state Department of Health and Human Services data.
The overall rate of vaccination among all North Carolina residents is lower. Just 55% of all North Carolinians are fully vaccinated, according to DHHS, and 59% of all residents are at least partially vaccinated.
Mecklenburg County skews a little higher than the rest of the state, with 61% of county residents at least partially vaccinated and 57% fully vaccinated.
The Elon Poll indicated high support for the COVID-19 booster shots among North Carolinians surveyed. About 65% of respondents said they already had gotten a booster shot or plan to get one when available. Another 25% respondents said they would “maybe” get the booster shot when available.
And 60% of respondents said they approve of the federal government rule to require all organizations with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing. That rate varied, based on the political affiliation of the respondent, poll data shows.
About 59% of Republican respondents said they disapproved of the mandate, while 83% of Democratic respondents said they approved.
Democrats and Republicans also disagreed on other coronavirus-related opinions, the poll showed.
Some 38% of Republican respondents said North Carolina’s coronavirus-related rules and restrictions were too restrictive (29% said they were not restrictive enough, and 33% said the rules were about right).
Meanwhile, 49% of Democrats said the state’s rules and restrictions were not restrictive enough (41% said the rules were about right and just 10% said they were too restrictive).
Here are some of the other results from the Elon Poll on COVID-19 views:
Overall, are you glad you took the vaccine or do you wish you had not taken it?
▪ 92% said “Glad I took the vaccine”
▪ 8% said “Wish I had not taken it”
Do you plan to take a COVID-19 booster shot when it is available to you?
▪ 55% said “Yes”
▪ 25% said “Maybe”
▪ 10% said “No”
▪ 10% said “Already took booster”
By Christmas of this year, how do you think life in North Carolina will be in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic?
▪ 7% said “Back to the way it was before the pandemic”
▪ 13% said “A lot better than it is now”
▪ 27% said “A little better than it is now”
▪ 42% said “About the same that it is now”
▪ 11% said “Worse than it is now”
Read the full poll results online.
