Workers More Likely to Get COVID Vaccine When Employer Encourages It

As more employers return to in-person work, the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report shows that workers are more likely to have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine when their employer encourages it or provides paid sick leave to get the vaccine and recover from side effects.

About two-thirds of workers report that their employer is encouraging vaccinations, and half say that their employer is providing paid time off for workers to get the vaccine and recover from any side effects.

Those actions appear to have an effect: About three-quarters of workers whose employers encourage getting a vaccine (73%) or offer paid time off to do so (75%) say the have gotten at least one shot, significantly more than the shares whose employers don’t encourage vaccination (41%) or don’t offer paid time off (51%). The differences persist even after controlling for workers’ age, race and ethnicity, education, income, party identification and other demographic characteristics.

Relatively few workers say that their employer required them (9%) or offered a cash bonus or other incentive (12%) to get a vaccine.

While the public overall is split on whether employers should require workers to get vaccinated unless they have a medical excuse (51% favor, 46% oppose), most workers (61%) say they do not want their own employer to require vaccinations.

“Getting more Americans vaccinated isn’t only up to the government. Even without requiring workers to get a vaccine, employers can play a role by offering paid time off to get vaccinated and encouraging their workers to do so,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said.

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) surveyed 1,888 adults by phone.

Overall, nearly two-thirds (65%) of adults report having gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, up only slightly since May (62%). An additional 3% say they want to get a vaccine as soon as they can, and one in ten (10%) say they want to “wait and see” how the vaccine works for others before getting it.

About a fifth of the public remains in the more resistant categories, saying they that would get a vaccine “only if required” for work, school or other activities (6%), or that they will “definitely not” get a vaccine (14%). These shares are essentially unchanged since January even as most other adults got vaccinated.

Most adults are in homes where everyone else shares their vaccination status. Half (50%) of adults say that they and everyone in their household have gotten at least one shot, while a quarter (25%) say that neither they nor anyone else in their household has gotten a shot.

Two-thirds (67%) of Democrats say they live in fully vaccinated households, while nearly four in ten Republicans (37%) live in completely unvaccinated homes.

With new COVID-19 cases at their lowest level since testing became widely available more than a year ago, about three-quarters (76%) of the public now say they are optimistic that the country is nearing the end of the pandemic.

This optimism ironically may be contributing to the slowdown in new vaccinations. Half (50%) of those who are unvaccinated say that cases are now so low that there is no need for more people to get a shot. In comparison, the vast majority (91%) of people who have gotten at least one dose say that more people still need to get vaccinated.

What Might Increase Vaccination Rates?

The Monitor also looks at other potential incentives or developments that could boost vaccine take-up rates among those currently unvaccinated, particularly among those in “wait and see” mode.

Similar to last month, the new report finds that three in ten (31%) unvaccinated adults – and roughly half (49%) of the “wait and see” group – say that they would be more likely to get a vaccine if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval for one of the available vaccines.

However, those views may be more of a proxy for general safety concerns, as just a third (32%) of adults overall are aware that the FDA has only authorized the existing vaccines for emergency use while the rest either believe the vaccines already have full approval (21%) or aren’t sure (45%). Among unvaccinated adults who are aware that the vaccines are available under emergency use authorization, 32% say they would be more likely to get a vaccine if it were fully approval by the FDA.

Other potential motivators for the unvaccinated include:

• Nearly a quarter (23%) say they would be more likely to get vaccinated if they were entered in a lottery with a chance to win $1 million. This includes even larger shares of unvaccinated young adults ages 28-29 (33%), Black adults (34%) and those with household incomes under $40,000 annually (31%).• About one in six (17%) say they would be more likely to get vaccinated if a mobile clinic came to their neighborhood. The share is higher among Hispanic (33%) and Black (22%) adults than among White adults (10%).• Among unvaccinated parents, 13% say they would be more likely to get vaccinated if they were provided free childcare to get the vaccine and while they recover from side effects

About the survey:

Designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at KFF, the KFF Vaccine Monitor survey was conducted from June 8-21 among a nationally representative random digit dial telephone sample of 1,888 adults, including oversamples of adults who are Black (497) or Hispanic (512). Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (225) and cell phone (1,663). The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher.

KFF is an endowed, nonprofit organization providing independent information on national health issues. Headquartered in San Francisco, it is not connected to Kaiser Permanente.

Source: KFF

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