An increase in willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 in the US between October 2020 and February 2021: longitudinal evidence from the Understanding America Study

Daly, M.; Jones, A.; Robinson, E.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 has been declining throughout the pandemic and is low among ethnic minority groups. Methods: Observational study using a nationally representative longitudinal sample (N =7,840) from the Understanding America Study (UAS). Changes in the percentage of respondents willing to vaccinate, undecided, or intending to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine were examined over 20 survey waves from April 1 2020 to February 15 2021. Results: After a sharp decline in willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 between April and October 2020 (from 74.0% to 52.7%), willingness to vaccinate increased by 8.1% (p <.001) to 60.8% between October 2020 and February 2021. A significant increase in willingness to vaccinate was observed across all demographic groups examined and Black (15.6% increase) and Hispanic participants (12.1% increase) showed particularly large changes. Conclusions: Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 increased in the US from October 2020 to February 2021.