Coronavirus: Demand grows for vaccine

COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine hesitancy seems to be dropping in the U.S. as more adult Americans are looking to get vaccinated as soon as they can.

According to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the share of respondents seeking to get vaccinated as soon as they can has grown from 34 percent in December to 41 percent, not including the 6 percent who reported they’d already been vaccinated. The number of respondents saying they would wait and see how the vaccines are working dropped during the same period from 39 percent to 31 percent.

The increase in people wanting the vaccine as soon as possible was visible among Black, white, and Hispanic adults and the shares of Black and white adults who responded that they would wait and see dropped. Still, the study found that Black adults (43 percent) and Hispanic adults (37 percent) remain significantly more likely than white adult (26 percent) to say they want to wait and see, the survey says.

Meanwhile, white adults (53 percent) are more likely to say they have already been vaccinated or want to be as soon as possible compared to Black (35 percent) or Hispanic (42 percent) adults, according to the survey.

There still remains a political element to vaccine hesitancy, though, as the increase in enthusiasm is mainly tied to the attitudes of Democrats and independents. Republicans have shown the least enthusiasm with only 32 percent saying they’ve already been vaccinated or are looking to be as soon as possible, 33 percent saying they will wait and see, and 25 percent saying they’re definitely not getting vaccinated, similar numbers to December, the survey says.

The groups most enthusiastic to get vaccinate are:

• Over the age of 65 (66 percent)
• Democrats (64 percent)
• Those who work in health care (58 percent)
• White adults (53 percent)
• Those who live with someone with serious health conditions (51 percent)