Why have Trump supporters made the COVID-19 vaccine a political issue?
New research sheds light on how to reach Trump fans, who are one of the largest groups of vaccine skeptics in America.
Rural Republican voters are as afraid of getting a Covid-19 vaccine as they are of getting the virus itself. But assuaging their concerns is possible — if politicians get out of the way and let doctors take the lead, according to much anticipated new research.
Republican are now one of the largest groups of Americans resistant to getting vaccinated, potentially jeopardizing the goal of reaching herd immunity, which will only be achieved once an estimated 8 in 10 Americans are inoculated.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz this month undertook a focus group and a poll of 1,000 Republicans who voted for former President Donald Trump on behalf of a group of public health nonprofits in an attempt to help determine the best message for those who are reluctant to roll up a sleeve.
As vaccines become more widely accessible, the federal government and outside groups are preparing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a public relations campaign to encourage immunization. Luntz's research could aid those efforts.
Like other recent surveys, Luntz found that about a quarter of Trump voters said they “definitely will not” get vaccinated, while another 21 percent said they wanted to wait more than a year.
Of particular concern were younger Republican women, people without a college education and residents of small towns and rural areas. Rural and young Republicans (between the ages of 18-49) both split almost exactly evenly, 49-51 percent, when asked if they were more afraid of getting Covid-19 or getting the vaccine.
But the good news, according to Luntz, is that these Americans trust their doctors and can be convinced with a positive message about the benefits and safety of the vaccines, not the risks of skipping it.
“The most impactful message is how the vaccine will reduce the government’s restrictions on our lives and our freedoms," Luntz wrote in a polling memo. "Without widespread vaccination, mask mandates and personal lockdowns will continue.”
