On Thursday, President Biden announced new vaccine mandates that would affect approximately 80 million Americans. One new mandate includes requiring companies with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus or be subject to regular testing. A poll conducted in the days that followed the announcement exemplifies how Republicans' and Democrats' opinions differ regarding the new mandate and other specific COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
In a poll conducted by Morning Consult and Politico, 80 percent of Democrats surveyed back Biden's decision to mandate companies with 100 or more employees to require the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. Thirty-three percent of Republicans feel the same. Sixty-two percent of Republican respondents and 14 percent of Democrat respondents oppose such measures.
When the questions are narrowed more specifically, the divide between party lines regarding coronavirus vaccine mandates is evident. Eighty-four percent of Democrats encourage states to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all school employees while 38 percent of Republicans support this type of requirement. Eighty-two percent of Democrats support requiring most health care workers to get vaccinated without the option to opt-out through regular COVID-19 testing. Thirty-six percent of Republicans would favor this measure. Eighty-one percent of Democrats support requiring most federal employers and contractors to get vaccinated without the ability to opt-out through regular testing, while 31 percent of Republicans support this.
The poll, which took place from Sept. 11 through Sept. 13, also surveyed respondents on their thoughts about the role of government in promoting vaccination rates and if they think the government taking a role in vaccines will reduce the spread of coronavirus.
In the results, 67 percent of Democrats believe that government mandates to get vaccinated against COVID-19 protect the rights of Americans. Only 24 percent of Republicans share this belief. Eighty-two percent of Democrats think government mandates on vaccinations will reduce COVID-19 cases in the country, while 32 percent of Republicans think so.
As the poll write-up reads, "[t]he public's viewpoints largely echo the stances political figures took over the weekend. In Texas, for example, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called the requirement for private-sector companies to get their workforces vaccinated or test them regularly an 'assault on private businesses,' while the chair of the state's Democratic party referred to the White House plan as a 'common-sense policy' to help the country emerge from the pandemic." The poll was among 2,200 adults in the United States and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
