People in the UK are twice as likely to get vaccinated as people in the US.
- Americans twice as likely to not have received a single jab that their UK counterparts.
- 39% of Americans won’t get vaccinated because they ‘don’t trust the government’.
- US government has a serious journey ahead in convincing Americans to get vaccinated.
The data and findings from the latest survey on vaccine hesitancy in the United States and United Kingdom were released today, revealing that the US government has a serious journey ahead in convincing its citizens about the importance of getting vaccinated.
The survey was conducted from August 5, 2021 to August 17, 2021 and polled approximately 5,000 participants in the United States and 1,000 participants in the United Kingdom. The data was collected using a novel approach of paying smartphone users as “gig” workers for their participation and resulted in substantial responses in the thousands to date with more coming.
The results revealed important distinctions among unvaccinated populations in the U.S. and U.K. and show varying levels of resistance to vaccination. The survey also highlights possible openings which could be used to persuade the unvaccinated to become vaccinated.
Here are some of the most relevant findings from the survey:
- Americans were twice as likely to not have received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (45%) than their U.K. counterparts (23%).
- 33% of unvaccinated Americans and 23% of unvaccinated U.K. citizens said they would never get vaccinated.
- Of those who are currently unvaccinated, 39% of Americans and 33% of U.K. participants said they would not get vaccinated because they do not trust the government.
- Of those who are currently unvaccinated, 46% of U.K. participants said they would get vaccinated if there were more proof the vaccines worked compared to only 21% of unvaccinated Americans.
- Only 7% of American unvaccinated participants said they were not getting vaccinated because they didn’t think COVID was a real danger, but 33% of unvaccinated U.K. participants listed that as their reasoning.
These findings indicate that public health officials in the U.S. and U.K. face unique challenges in convincing their respective unvaccinated populations to get the COVID-19 vaccine. With 69% of the U.K. unvaccinated population willing to get vaccinated once they receive more information on testing, safety, or efficacy (compared to just 49% of unvaccinated Americans), the path forward for U.K. policymakers appears more straightforward. U.S. policymakers, on the other hand, have to contend with larger portions of the population that have stated they will never get vaccinated and won’t do so because they distrust the government.