Less Than One-Quarter Of Massachusetts Residents Have Received COVID Vaccine According to New UMass / WCVB Poll

Survey Shows More Than 20 Percent Probably, Or Definitely, Will Not Get The Vaccine, While Governor Baker Receives Split Marks On Overseeing Vaccine Distribution

Source: UMass News and Media

While Massachusetts has entered Phase Two of the COVID vaccination distribution plan, less than one-quarter of Bay State residents report receiving the potentially life-saving injection, according to a new UMass Amherst / WCVB poll released today.

Only 23 percent of the 800 Massachusetts residents in the poll’s sample say they have received the vaccination. Of those who have not yet received the vaccine, 55 percent plan on “definitely” getting the shot, while 21 percent responded that they definitely (15 percent) or probably (6 percent) will not get the vaccine when it is made available to them. When asked why, 35 percent of this group said they “do not trust that it is safe and effective” and 24 percent think it “is too new and [I] want to wait to see how it works for other people.” Eleven percent stated that they “don’t trust vaccines in general.”

While 93 percent of respondents who identified as Democrats said they will definitely (79 percent) or probably (14 percent) get the vaccine, only 48 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of independents said the same, with 31 percent of each of those two groups stating that they “definitely will not” get vaccinated.

“Massachusetts has a trust problem on vaccinations,” says Raymond La Raja, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and associate director of the poll. “More than one in five respondents said they are unlikely to get the vaccine, mostly because they did not think it was safe or effective. It is very partisan and ideological. Almost half of self-described conservatives feel this way compared to just 5 percent of liberals.”

While President Joe Biden received high grades overall for handling the vaccine’s rollout — 62 percent said he has done very well (29 percent) or somewhat well (33 percent) — the poll’s respondents were divided on Gov. Charlie Baker’s handling of the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts. An equal 44 percent said Baker has handled the rollout well and not well. 

“While Governor Charlie Baker has come under heavy fire for his handling of the distribution of the vaccine, he is well on his way to achieving his goal of protecting the state’s most vulnerable residents, as close to 40 percent of the state’s residents over the age of 55 have received the vaccine,” says Tatishe Nteta, associate professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll.

The poll’s respondents gave the Commonwealth in general split grades (42 percent positive — 43 percent negative) on the vaccine distribution program, with Baker receiving similarly split marks regarding his responsibility for the state’s performance. Sixty-one percent of those who said the state has handled the vaccine rollout well credit Baker as most responsible for its success, while 62 percent of those critical of the state’s performance pinned the responsibility on the governor.

“State residents are not exactly proud of the job Massachusetts is doing combatting COVID,” La Raja says. “While most Massachusetts voters think the state is doing about average, as many as 28 percent think the state is vaccinating fewer people than other states, and an equal number of people think we are doing as bad as we are good.”

Republicans’ distrust in the vaccination rollout extends to the elected officials in charge, as 74 percent said that Biden and 44 percent said Baker have not handled the rollout well. Only 17 percent of Republicans said Biden has handled the vaccine rollout well, while 43 percent said Baker has done well. Among Democrats, 87 percent said Biden has done well compared to just 8 percent who said he had not done well. Forty-eight percent of Democrats said that Baker has done well with the vaccine rollout, while 42 percent said he has not. Independents were more evenly split on Biden’s performance, with 45 percent saying he has done well as opposed to 40 percent not well. Independents gave Baker failing marks, with 50 percent saying he has not handled the rollout well compared to 36 percent saying that he has.

“Governor Baker gets praised or blamed by equal numbers of voters,” La Raja says. “Remarkably, sentiments don’t break down along partisan or ideological lines, like they do for President Biden. Appraisals of his job on COVID are all about him and not his politics. He knows it, and it will be part of his legacy.”

The poll also asked respondents their views on vaccine equity, noting that according to state data white residents of the Commonwealth are on average 14-times more likely to have received the vaccine than African American and Latino residents.

Vaccine Equity
“The racial gap in vaccinations is real,” Nteta says. “Whites in the Commonwealth are more likely to have received the vaccine when compared to people of color. Interestingly, a majority of the state’s citizens support taking into account race in determining eligibility for the vaccine and this is particularly popular among liberals (85 percent), Democrats (77 percent) and young adults (69 percent).”

Slightly more than half (51 percent) of Republicans oppose incorporating racial equity into the vaccine’s distribution, as do 35 percent of independents, while 18 percent and 23 percent, respectively, support the idea. Only 5 percent of Democrats replied that they oppose the idea.

Educator Access to Vaccines
Finally, as school re-openings have continued to be a hotly-debated topic both in the Commonwealth and across the country, the poll asked respondents if they thought K-12 educators, school staff, and child workers should be immediately eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of those surveyed said these groups should, in fact, be allowed to jump to the front of the vaccination lines, with only 17 percent opposed. Ninety-one percent of Democrats approve of the idea, as do 56 percent of independents and 49 percent of Republicans, while one-third of Republicans and 28 percent of independents oppose the idea.

“While Governor Baker initially opposed providing the vaccine to K-12 teachers and only changed state policy in response to pressure from the Biden Administration, the state’s residents overwhelmingly support vaccinating teachers in the Commonwealth,” Nteta says.

Topline results and crosstabs for the poll can be found at www.umass.edu/poll