COVID-19 vaccine: ABC News/Ipsos poll shows support for getting inoculated, but divide on timing

ByJesse Kirsch WABC logo
Monday, December 14, 2020
Poll shows support for getting COVID-19 vaccine, but divide on timing
An ABC News Ipsos poll provides new insights into whether Americans are willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

CHICAGO -- A new ABC News/IPSOS poll shows many Americans are willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but there is a divide over when to be inoculated.

More than 8 in 10 Americans would choose to be inoculated, according to the poll released Monday morning. But it's more complicated when you look at when people want to be vaccinated.

Forty percent of those polled said they would get is as soon as possible, while another 44% want to wait a bit before getting vaccinated.

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Things get more complicated when you break down responses by demographic like age, education and politics.

Among people over the age of 65, only 7% said they won't get vaccinated. For people between 18-29, that number is 20%.

The poll shows 93% of elderly Americans are willing to get the vaccine, with 57% willing to get it right away and 36% waiting further down the line.

For people under 30, 80% are willing to get inoculated, but 50% said they will wait rather than get it right away.

The poll shows those with a high school degree or less are twice as likely to say they would never get a COVID vaccine at 20%. That number for those with at least a bachelor's degree is 9%.

Twenty six percent of Republicans polled said they would never get the coronavirus vaccine, compared to 6% of Democrats and 14% of independents.

The poll also shows that people more directly impacted by the virus are more likely to want the vaccine quickly and of those Americans polled, 69% said they or someone they know has been infected by COVID-19.