Poll: Vaccine hesitancy among Fox News viewers down 10 percent since March

There has been a dip in vaccine hesitancy among Fox News viewers since leading hosts at the network have begun pushing inoculation in recent weeks, according to a new poll. 

A Morning Consult poll published Wednesday found reluctance to the vaccine among Fox News watchers fell to an all-time low this week, with 27 percent of Fox viewers surveyed saying they “probably or definitely won’t get vaccinated.” The highest level of vaccine hesitancy among Fox viewers this year came in mid-March, when 37 percent of those respondents said they were unlikely to get a shot. 

The poll comes just weeks after top hosts at the network have taken a more vocal stance on their support for and belief in the science behind vaccination, and have urged their viewers to ignore conspiracy theories about the drug.  

“Unfortunately — and this is one of the reasons, apparently, that Joe Biden and the administration came out last week — the administration very frustrated. They have not been able to get Facebook to get rid of some of the disinformation. The disinformation is online: The vaccine is killing lots and lots of people or it changes your DNA or there are little microchips. None of that is true,” Steve Doocy, a co-host of “Fox and Friends”, said. 

“Please take COVID seriously, I can’t say it enough,” longtime prime-time host Sean Hannity said later that night. “Enough people have died. We don’t need any more deaths.”

“Research like crazy, talk to your doctor, your doctors, medical professionals you trust based on your unique medical history, your current medical condition, and you and your doctor make a very important decision for your own safety. Take it seriously,” he said.

The network also rolled out a PSA last month directing viewers to the network’s website where a vaccine tracker is on the homepage. 

Still, some hosts at the network, while their colleagues encourage mass vaccination, have questioned government mandates regarding vaccines and masks. 

Tucker Carlson, who has the largest audience of any host at the network, at one point this year urged his viewers to call the police if they see a child wearing a mask and on another occasion suggested President Biden’s administration is trying to “force people to take medicine they don’t want or need.”

Among other cable news outlets, people who say they watch CNN are the most likely to say they’ve already been vaccinated, at 75 percent, the poll found. 

A total of 19 percent of viewers of all cable news channels in the poll said they won’t be vaccinated.