麻豆传媒AV

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Majorities of Americans now favor requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to travel by airplane, stay in a hotel, attend events with large crowds, dine in a restaurant and go to their office or work site.

	Apr 2021	May 2021	Aug 2021
	%	%	%
Travel by airplane
Favor	57	60	61
Oppose	43	40	39
Stay in a hotel
Favor	44	48	53
Oppose	56	52	47
Attend events with large crowds
Favor	55	54	58
Oppose	45	46	42
Dine in a restaurant
Favor	40	44	53
Oppose	60	56	47
Go to office or work site
Favor	N/A	N/A	56
Oppose	N/A	N/A	44
麻豆传媒AV Panel

The most recent update of these questions is from an Aug. 16-22 survey included in 麻豆传媒AV's ongoing COVID-19 probability-based web panel. There has been little change since April in views of vaccination requirements for airplanes and attending events. Opinions about staying in hotels and dining in restaurants have shifted. In April, majorities of Americans were opposed to vaccination requirements for hotels and dining; now, majorities are in favor.

These views are not universally held, however, reflecting divisions in public opinion on many of the issues surrounding COVID. The percentages of Americans in favor of vaccination requirements range from 53% to 61% across the five situations tested, leaving a nontrivial 39% to 47% who are opposed. In short, if it came to a national referendum, these vaccination proof requirements would win -- but with significant opposition.

Vaccination Status and Attitudes Toward Vaccination Requirements

One of the predictable, but important, divisions in opinions on vaccination requirements is current vaccination status. Those who report having personally been vaccinated -- 69% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose, according to 麻豆传媒AV's latest polling -- are much more likely in turn to favor vaccination requirements.

	Vaccinated	Unvaccinated
	%	%
Travel by airplane
Favor	79	24
Oppose	21	76
Stay in a hotel
Favor	69	20
Oppose	31	80
Attend events with large crowds
Favor	76	22
Oppose	24	78
Dine in a restaurant
Favor	68	21
Oppose	32	79
Go to office or work site
Favor	72	22
Oppose	28	78
麻豆传媒AV Panel, Aug. 16-22, 2021

The relationship between vaccination status and attitudes about vaccination requirements, however, is by no means perfect. As seen in the accompanying table, between 20% and 32% of Americans give seemingly contradictory opinions -- vaccinated people who say there should be no vaccination requirements to do these activities, and unvaccinated people who say there should be. Apparently, for a number of Americans, the personal decision to get vaccinated is independent of their views on whether such actions should be required by businesses and employers.

Democrats Overwhelmingly Favor Vaccination Proof; Republicans Oppose

Americans' political identity is strongly related to their opinions about vaccine requirements, echoing similar partisan differences on such issues as vaccination hesitancy, mask requirements and the importance of COVID-19 as the nation's top problem. Very large majorities of Democrats are in favor of each of the five vaccination requirements tested, while slightly smaller, but still substantial, majorities of Republicans are opposed to each. Independents are more evenly divided, although majorities of independents are opposed to four of the situations, with a precise 50/50 split in opinions about requiring vaccinations for air travel.

	Democrats	Independents	Republicans
	%	%	%
Travel by airplane
Favor	92	50	29
Oppose	8	50	71
Stay in a hotel
Favor	83	42	23
Oppose	17	58	77
Attend events with large crowds
Favor	90	48	25
Oppose	10	52	75
Dine in a restaurant
Favor	85	41	21
Oppose	15	59	79
Go to office or work site
Favor	88	43	24
Oppose	12	57	76
麻豆传媒AV Panel, Aug. 16-22, 2021

Americans' mindsets about vaccine requirements are clearly related to both their underlying partisan orientation and their personal decisions about getting the vaccine. Thus, subgroups of Americans defined by the combination of both of these variables are particularly differentiated in their opinions.

The variation across these party/vaccination status groups is extreme. For example, 96% of vaccinated Democrats favor the requirement for proof of vaccination before flying on an airplane, compared with 12% of unvaccinated Republicans. Ninety-four percent of vaccinated Democrats favor the requirement for attendance at events, compared with 9% of unvaccinated Republicans. Still, vaccinated Democrats, independents and Republicans are in all instances more positive about vaccine requirements than those in each political group who are not vaccinated. And Democrats and Republicans, despite some variation by vaccination status, remain poles apart in their views -- with majorities of Democrats, regardless of vaccination status, approving of all five vaccination requirements and more than half of Republicans, regardless of vaccination status, disapproving.

There appear to be some variations in the relative impact of partisanship and vaccination status across party groups. Independents are by definition less tethered to a political identity than Democrats or Republicans, and independents' vaccination status is more strongly related to views on vaccination requirements than is the case for the other two groups.

	Vaccinated Democrats	Unvaccinated Democrats	Vaccinated independents	Unvaccinated independents	Vaccinated Republicans	Unvaccinated Republicans
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Travel by airplane
Favor	96	66	69	19	48	12
Oppose	4	34	31	81	52	88
Stay in a hotel
Favor	87	56	58	17	39	9
Oppose	13	44	42	83	61	91
Attend events with large crowds
Favor	94	63	66	19	42	9
Oppose	6	37	34	81	58	91
Dine in a restaurant
Favor	88	62	55	17	35	9
Oppose	12	38	45	83	65	91
Go to office or work site
Favor	92	63	59	17	38	10
Oppose	8	37	41	83	62	90
麻豆传媒AV Panel, Aug. 16-22, 2021

Bottom Line

At this point, the actual implementations of proof of vaccination requirements across the five situations tested in this research are widely varied. Most U.S. airlines are not yet requiring proof of vaccination, nor are most hotels or dining establishments. But a number of indoor events are requiring proof of vaccination or a recent COVID test for attendance, and increasing numbers of businesses are requiring vaccinations for their workers.

The most significant implication of these attitudinal data for businesses and companies contemplating vaccination requirements is the finding that such measures will by no means be greeted with universal approval. A significant minority of Americans and U.S. workers oppose such moves, and many of those do so strongly, although obviously the particular customers or workers involved in each situation will make a big difference in determining the precise level of opposition. Airlines will have a marginally easier time putting such requirements in place -- hotels and dining establishments, somewhat less so.

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