Booster Shots Rollout, But 71% Of Unvaccinated Americans Think It's Proof Vaccines Don’t Work: Study

Vaccine hesitancy continues as the rollout of the COVID booster shots begins, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

According to the study, 71% of unvaccinated Americans say that the booster shot is proof that the COVID vaccines don’t work, while nearly 80% of vaccinated people said they see the booster shots as a good sign. The survey included 1,519 randomly selected adults and took place Sept. 13-22.

The booster shot has been recommended by the Food and Drug Administration for people 65 and older and those individuals at high risk of contracting the virus. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky also authorized the booster dose for those in high-risk jobs and institution settings.

Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told CNBC, “We have seen for sure that the vaccinated and unvaccinated have viewed the pandemic very differently. It’s not really surprising to me that they view the conversation around booster shots differently.”

She continued by saying that the unvaccinated are the “strongest holdouts,” adding that they are likely to believe that the pandemic has been exaggerated and are less worried about getting sick.

Attitudes to the COVID vaccines are commonly split by political party, with 90% of respondents to the poll who are Democrats saying they have received at least one dose of the shot and with only 58% of Republicans saying they have received one dose of the vaccine.

But regarding booster doses, 68% of Democrats said they will definitely get the shot if recommended by the CDC and FDA, compared to 36% of Republican respondents.

However, of those who are fully vaccinated, 55% said they will definitely get the booster shot, while 26% said they would probably get it if the FDA and CDC recommended it for them. A total of 8% of respondents said they would probably not get it, and 5% said they would definitely not get the booster dose while fully vaccinated.

As many as 3% of all adults polled already received their booster shot, the poll indicated.

The CDC said 2.7 million people have received their booster shot since it was authorized for people who were immunocompromised back in August, CNBC reported.

Over 183.8 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for 55.4% of the U.S. population.

President Joe Biden received his booster shot on Monday as an eligible recipient at the age of 78. He was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine before his inauguration.