DATE: OCTOBER 2022 

SUBJECT: KEY FINDINGS – VACCINE PERCEPTIONS SURVEY RESULTS 

Public Opinion Strategies, a leading political survey research firm with strong bona fides among Republican and conservative political groups and advocates, has conducted multiple surveys in several predominantly conservative states to understand the political utility or strength of anti-vaccine/anti-vaccination legislation among voters of different beliefs, lifestyles, and political orientations. 

This research was conducted in the context of a host of state legislative initiatives to weaken or eliminate most or all vaccine mandates and requirements for even the most proven, accepted, and longstanding vaccines such as those for measles, mumps and polio. The research clearly focused on “these wellness vaccines” and specifically excluded the more politically charged COVID-19 vaccines from the survey design. 

Below is a list of the key findings from the three surveys that can be extrapolated for other similarly conservative areas across the country. The surveys were completed in Kansas in January 2022, and in Wisconsin and Florida in June 2022. 

Data shown in this memo are averages from the three states surveyed. Strong differences were not seen between the states, liberal vs. conservative, rural vs. urban, or by ethnic group, except as specifically noted. 

KEY FINDINGS 

1. Voters overwhelmingly believe taking vaccines for diseases like measles, mumps and polio is extremely or very important to maintaining good health. A vast majority of voters (79%) believe taking wellness vaccines is extremely or very important to maintaining good health and nearly half (49%) say they are extremely important. Majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, liberals, and conservatives, as well as voters who live in rural areas and suburban voters, agree it is extremely or very important to take wellness vaccines to maintain good health. 

2. Those surveyed are almost universal in their belief that wellness vaccines are a good thing (95%), including more than two-thirds (72%) who say they are a very good thing. Respondents were given the following description regarding wellness vaccines: 

“Now, you are going to read some questions about wellness vaccines. These are vaccines that are most commonly given to children at different points of their childhood and they are used to prevent diseases like measles, mumps, hepatitis, and polio. To be clear, these are different than the COVID-19 vaccine and we are not asking anything about the COVID-19 vaccine.”

3. Protection from diseases and protection of others are the top reasons surveyed voters believe it is important to take wellness vaccines. Respondents who answered that wellness vaccines are a very good thing or somewhat good thing were asked to describe the most important reason in their mind for getting a wellness vaccine. A sample of the answers: 

“To help protect me from contagious diseases, and to help mitigate the spread of these diseases to others.” – Male, 65+, Strong Republican 

“To keep these diseases at bay for both the individual and the whole public.” – Female, 55-64, Strong Republican 

“To continue to reduce the spread of things that we have already seen the vaccines work to remove from daily lives.” – Male, 35-44, Strong Republican 

“To prevent getting an illness that could seriously harm or kill you.” – Female, 25-34, Not-So-Strong Republican 

“Disease spread has been curbed due to vaccines. A reduction in immunizations would result in widespread sickness and recurrences of deadly viruses and disease” – Female, 45-54, Not-So-Strong Republican 

“Reduces your chances of getting a disease or virus and lessens the negative impact if you do get it.” – Male, 45-54, Not-So-Strong Republican 

“To continue keeping these diseases from making a comeback into the population.” – Male, 35-44, Other/Independent 

“To protect yourself against harmful diseases, so that you don’t have to go through their effects.” – Female, 18-24, Other/Independent 

“I believe it is crucial to keep these diseases from coming back and spreading.” – Female, 18-24, Not-So-Strong Democrat 

“So I won’t get the disease, or if I do, it won’t be as devastating to me.” – Female, 65+, Democrat 

4. Strong majorities of voters believe in the safety and efficacy of wellness vaccines, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. When asked about the safety and efficacy of wellness vaccines, fully 78% of voters surveyed say wellness vaccines are completely/mostly safe and 78% say wellness vaccines are completely/mostly effective. Conversely, just 7% of voters believe wellness vaccines are mostly or completely unsafe and just 6% say these wellness vaccines are mostly or completely ineffective. 

5. Voters strongly support wellness vaccine requirements for children in their states to attend K-12 schools or childcare facilities. Respondents were asked if they support current state laws that require children who attend childcare facilities or K-12 schools to receive certain wellness vaccines (e.g., MMR and polio). Across the three states, fully 91% of voters said they supported the current laws to require wellness vaccines, including nearly two-in-three voters (65%) in strong support of them. 

Further, nearly seven-in-ten voters (68%) say they would be more likely to support a candidate for public office who supported the existing wellness vaccine requirements, compared to 9% who say they would be less likely and 23% who say it would make no difference to them.

6. Protection from diseases and protection of others are the top reasons voters believe it is important to get a wellness vaccine. Respondents who answered that wellness vaccines are a very good thing or somewhat good thing were asked to describe the most important reason in their mind for getting a wellness vaccine. A sample of the answers: 

“To keep you from contracting an infectious disease and to keep healthy” – Female, 65+, Strong Republican 

“To maintain immunity from those debilitating illnesses.” – Male, 35-44, Strong Republican 

“I know they work well. They have been around forever.” – Female, 45-54, Strong Republican 

“To prevent the comeback and outbreak of serious diseases that have been well controlled for decades.” – Female, 18-24, Not-So-Strong Republican 

“Prevent child diseases that could have significant consequences.” – Male, 65+, Independent 

“Prevent these diseases from becoming a large problem again.” – Female, 25-34, Independent 

BOTTOM LINE 

Make no mistake, voters across partisan, gender, and age lines strongly support wellness vaccines. Overwhelming majorities believe they are important for maintaining good health, in addition to being both safe and effective. Fully 9-in-10 support wellness vaccine requirements for children to attend schools/childcare and more than three-quarters would be more supportive of a political candidate who supports the existing policies. 

It could be easy in this moment to think divisions over COVID-19 vaccine policies may lead to divisions over wellness vaccine policies. But voters support wellness vaccines and the requirements around them to attend schools. 

View PDF of these findings here.