Last month, I covered how less than 20 percent of workers in the United States said their employer was requiring their employees to get fully vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus. Now, a new poll conducted by the same organization shows the number has upped to over one-third of American workers.
The latest Gallup COVID-19 tracking survey shows that over one-third, 36 percent, of American workers say their employer is requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for their employees. According to the poll write-up, this is up nine percent since July.
The survey, conducted from Oct. 18 to Oct. 24, also found that 39 percent of American workers say their employer is "encouraging but not requiring" employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In July, this particular statistic was at 62 percent. This could be because more employers now are requiring vaccines rather than encouraging vaccines. One-fourth, 25 percent, of workers said their employer has not indicated a vaccine policy. The write-up notes this number has remained steady since May.
Today's poll, which surveyed 4,007 adults, found that more U.S. employees favor mandates (56 percent) than are opposed to them (37 percent). In May, only 46 percent of workers surveyed said they supported mandates for the vaccine. Seven percent of respondents in today's findings said they neither support nor oppose vaccination requirements. The poll write-up explains that those who "strongly favor" vaccine mandates have increased steadily.
“Most U.S. workers hold strong opinions on vaccination requirements. A combined 75% either strongly favor (45%) or strongly oppose (30%) them. In May, 60% of workers had strong opinions in either direction. Back then, those with strong opinions were equally likely to favor as to oppose vaccine requirements, 29% to 30%. The growth since May, then, has come in the percentage who are strongly in favor.”
A separate question in the survey found that seven percent of respondents who strongly oppose employer vaccine requirements are actively looking for a new job. However, this question did not take into account if the job search pertained solely to vaccine requirements or for other reasons. Ten percent of respondents who strongly favor vaccine requirements are seeking new employment. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
"The Biden administration's workplace rules were announced in September, and many employers that did not already have vaccination requirements of their own in place have begun to comply with those," the write-up concludes. "Legal challenges to government and employer vaccine mandates are working their way through the court system, but as those get sorted out, an increasing number of U.S. workers say their employer is requiring its employees to get COVID-19 vaccines."
