Satisfaction with vaccine rollout surges to 68 percent: poll

Americans’ satisfaction with the COVID-19 vaccination rollout campaign surged to 68 percent in March, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday.

The Gallup poll recorded a 24 percentage point increase in reported satisfaction with the vaccination effort from an overall 44 percent approval in February. Satisfaction with the rollout has doubled since January, when 34 percent of respondents expressed approval and as President Biden’s administration first began.

For the March poll, all major demographic subgroups reached a majority of respondents expressing satisfaction with the vaccination campaign. The demographics with the most satisfaction include adults aged 65 and older, at 77 percent, and those who received at least one dose of a vaccine, at 75 percent. 

Democrats also saw their approval of the rollout triple to 73 percent since January, when former President Trump left office. But Republicans’ satisfaction has also risen since the transition month by 17 percentage points to 66 percent. 

The poll comes as Biden announced that the country surpassed its goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses in 100 days and has since boosted the target to 200 million in that timeframe. 

A higher percentage of respondents, 74 percent, also reported a willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine, representing a continuous rise since 50 percent said they were open to it in September. 

Out of those less willing to get the vaccine, 23 percent said that they were hesitant because they want to wait and see if the shot is safe, and 20 percent said they do not believe the health effects from the virus would be severe if they caught the disease.

Gallup’s poll surveyed 3,905 adults aged 18 and older from March 15 to 21, more than two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency approval to the third vaccine, Johnson & Johnson. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 145 million doses of vaccine have been administered, with 28.6 percent of the population receiving at least one dose and 15.8 percent being fully vaccinated.