WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — About one-third of Republicans say they will “definitely not” get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The poll was consistent during the months of December, January and February. Many of them are supporters of former President Trump — and Trump counts the vaccine as one of his administration’s greatest accomplishments.
“That group is less likely to be worried about somebody in their family getting sick,” said Liz Hamel with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “They’re much more likely to say the seriousness of the pandemic has been exaggerated in the news.”
Trump and his wife Melania quietly got the vaccine before leaving office “but didn’t tell people at that time,” Hamel said. “While he may now be telling people to get the vaccine a lot of the things he said while he was in office are reflected in the attitudes that we see from many Republicans who say they don’t want to get the vaccine.”
As many parts of the country push to fully re-open, there is another area of concern
“People live in rural areas are more likely, than people living in urban or suburban areas, to say that they ‘definitely won’t’ get the vaccine,” she said.
That rural-urban divide is found among both Democrats and Republicans, the poll found.
