Do the unvaccinated need public shaming to encourage them to get a vaccine? According to a recent poll, most American's don't believe this to be the correct approach.
Conducted by the Trafalgar Group, the poll was in partnership with the Convention of States Action, surveying 1,085 likely General Election voters.
The poll finds that a sizable majority of Americans did not agree with public figures shaming those who have not gotten a COVID vaccine and did not believe that this shaming is an effective way to increase vaccination rates with 59.8% disapproved of 'vaccine shaming' and only 23.7% approved.
"Those who choose not to get vaccinated are making a poor health decision at their own individual risk," Dr. Marty Makary said in a U.S. News OpEd. "Let's encourage vaccination rather than activate the personal liberty culture wars that result in people becoming more entrenched in their opposition."
While the poll results varied quite a bit based on party affiliation, at least a plurality of each group disapproved of vaccine shaming. This includes 77.7% of Republicans and 40.5% of Democrats (only 36% of Democrats approved of the shaming). 61.4% of third-party and independent respondents also disapproved.
The New Mexico Department of Health reports that 75.2% of New Mexico residents 18 and over have had at least one dose of a vaccine, as of Aug. 19, with 66.0% being fully vaccinated. This amounts to over 1 million fully vaccinated people.
"While vaccine requirements for health care workers make sense, we would never extend those requirements outside of health care for, say, the flu shot," Dr. Makary said, told by U.S. News. "We'd simply state to the public: Those who avoid the flu shot do so at their own risk."
Convention of States Action (COSA) is a grassroots political organization with over 5 million supporters across the United States. The organization's primary focus is on calling an Article V Convention of the States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. COSA only promotes amendments that would impose limitations on the size and scope of the federal government.
The Trafalgar Group is a public polling and market research firm. Its website states that Real Clear Politics called it the "most accurate pollster of the cycle among those firms that polled multiple Senate and governor races” this year.