More in U.S. Vaccinated After Delta Surge, FDA Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of U.S. adults who report being vaccinated for COVID-19 jumped to 75% in September, after three months when the figure languished at just under 70%. An additional five percent of adults say they plan to be vaccinated, pushing the combined percentage either vaccinated or planning to be up to 80%, the highest yet this year.

The relatively sharp upturn in U.S. adults being vaccinated this month follows an eventful period in the pandemic.

• Public worry about contracting COVID-19 has been higher the past two months amidst a spike in infections around the country due to the delta variant of the coronavirus. Forty percent of adults now say they are very or somewhat worried about being infected, similar to 39% in August but up from 29% in July and 17% in June.

• On August 23, the Food and Drug Administration announced its decision to give full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use with people 16 and older -- the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive that designation. Accordingly, Gallup tracking finds a sharp decline in vaccine-resistant Americans saying they are waiting for FDA approval.

• According to Gallup polling, there has been a big jump -- from 19% in August to 29% in September -- in the percentage of U.S. workers who report that their employer will require workers to be vaccinated.

The latest results are based on a Sept. 13-19 update of Gallup's monthly COVID-19 tracking survey, conducted by web using the probability-based Gallup Panel.

Majority of Republican Adults Now Vaccinated

Vaccination for COVID-19 continues to vary sharply by party ID, with much larger percentages of Democrats than Republicans reporting they have taken the vaccine.

However, for the first time, a majority of Republicans, 56%, say they have received at least one dose. This is up six percentage points from August, the largest monthly uptick in vaccination among Republicans since April when vaccines were just becoming widely available.

Still, Republicans retain the lowest vaccination rate of any major subgroup of Americans. By contrast, more than 70% of men and women, White and non-White adults, and adults in all four major regions of the country say they have been vaccinated.

Vaccination varies only slightly by age, with those younger than 35 (79%) and 55 or older (77%) more likely than adults 35 to 54 (68%) to report already being vaccinated.

	Fully or partially vaccinated	Vaccinated^ or plan to be	Don't plan to be vaccinated
	%	%	%
U.S. adults	75	80	20
Gender
Men	73	78	22
Women	77	82	18
Age
18 to 34	79	82	18
35 to 54	68	74	26
55 and older	77	83	17
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white adults	73	78	22
Non-white adults	78	85	15
Region
North	79	86	14
Midwest	73	78	22
South	73	78	22
West	76	81	19
Party ID
Democrats	92	97	3
Independents	68	74	26
Republicans	56	60	40
^Fully or partially
Gallup Panel, Sept. 13-19, 2021

Employed Adults Match National Average in Vaccination

On September 9, President Joe Biden announced plans to require all federal workers to be vaccinated and mandating that large private employers require their employees be vaccinated. While it is too soon for that policy to affect workers' vaccination status, the September poll finds that employed Americans are identical to the national average in their vaccination status -- 75% of employed adults report they have received one or two shots. Unemployed workers (70%) and homemakers (63%) fall below that level while retirees (79%) are slightly above it.

There are also notable differences by type of occupation, with 80% of white-collar workers reporting they are vaccinated, compared with 62% of blue-collar workers. Additionally, a notable 90% of those in the education field and 82% of healthcare workers (groups excluded from Gallup's definition of white-collar workers for this analysis) say they are vaccinated against COVID-19.

All of these figures increase when factoring in those who say they plan to be vaccinated. That leaves about two in 10 employed Americans -- including 15% of white-collar workers and 33% of blue-collar workers -- who don't plan to be vaccinated. This may present challenges to large employers if their employees refuse to comply or look for alternate employment.

	Fully or partially vaccinated	Vaccinated^ or plan to be	Don't plan to be vaccinated
	%	%	%
Employment status
Employed full- or part-time	75	79	21
Unemployed	70	78	22
Retired	79	86	14
Homemaker	63	67	33
Area of work
White collar	80	85	15
Blue collar	62	67	33
Education	90	93	7
Healthcare	82	85	15
^ Fully or partially
Gallup Panel, Sept. 13-19, 2021

Fewer Vaccine Resisters Cite Awaiting FDA Approval

With 80% of Americans indicating they are willing to be vaccinated or that they already have been, 20% are now resistant to taking the shot. That is down from 23% in August and the lowest recorded since coronavirus vaccines became available to the general public earlier this year.

Of that 20%, just 1% in September says the main reason they do not plan to get vaccinated is that they are waiting for FDA approval or otherwise have their concerns about the safety of coronavirus vaccines addressed. That is down from 5% in August, prior to the FDA's decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Another 5% of Americans say they are not getting vaccinated because they have already had COVID-19 or they have the antibodies.

Four percent are reluctant to get vaccinated because they still have concerns about the timeline for developing the vaccines. This figure has been fairly constant all year, as are the percentages saying the reason is they don't trust vaccines in general (3%), that they are concerned about having an allergic reaction (2%), or that they are waiting to see how effective the vaccines are (2%).

Meanwhile, the percentage thinking they wouldn't face serious health consequences from COVID-19 should they be stricken is now 3%, similar to the August rate but down from 6% in February.

	Feb 14-21, 2021	Aug 16-22, 2021	Sep 13-19, 2021
	%	%	%
Have had COVID-19 or have the antibodies	3	5	5
Concerned about timeline for developing the vaccines	5	3	4
Don't trust vaccines generally	4	4	3
Don't think would face serious health consequences from COVID-19	6	3	3
Concerned about allergic reaction	3	3	2
Waiting to see how effective vaccines are	2	2	2
Waiting to confirm safe/for full FDA approval	6	5	1
Total not planning to get vaccinated	29	23	20
Gallup Panel, Sept. 13-19, 2021

Bottom Line

Three in four U.S. adults are now vaccinated, at least partially, for the coronavirus, while another 5% plan to be. Additionally, 5% of adults report that they don't plan to be vaccinated but have had COVID-19 or have tested positive for the antibodies. While this doesn't meet public health standardsfor preventing the spread of COVID-19 or satisfy Biden's mandate that certain workers be vaccinated, it may at least afford these vaccine-resisters some immunity, though it is unclear how much and for how long.

Several factors may have helped boost the U.S. vaccination rate six points over the past month. This could include the FDA's recent approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and heightened concern about contracting the coronavirus after two straight months of the delta surge. Additionally, while Gallup data show most remote workers are still not back to an office or other worksite, some may have gotten vaccinated in anticipation of going back after Labor Day.

Future efforts at encouraging Americans to get voluntarily vaccinated will be most effective if they target the 5% of adults who already plan to take the shot. Then addressing the subset of vaccine resisters who have concerns about vaccine safety or the accelerated timeline for vaccine development could be fruitful, particularly if the FDA issues full approval for additional COVID-19 vaccines. Improved clarity around the immunity afforded to people who have had COVID-19 could either convince some recovered adults to finally get vaccinated or exempt them from vaccination, depending on what the research ultimately shows.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how compliant unvaccinated workers will be with the patchwork of employer, state and federal vaccine mandates affecting the workplace, and in some cases, being challenged in statehouses and courts. Those employees may ultimately have to decide between giving in to being vaccinated, or finding a job with a new employer, possibly in a different field of work, that doesn't require employee vaccinations.

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