(Trends Wide) — Political leanings are now a better indicator of COVID-19 vaccination status in the United States than age, race, education or health insurance status, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). ).
In the new analysis, the researchers found that unvaccinated Americans are people who identify themselves in “disproportionate” numbers as Republican or Republican-leaning.
According to the analysis, just over a quarter of American adults have not been vaccinated against the covid-19 virus. Of this quarter, 60% are Republican or Republican-leaning, and only 17% are Democrats or identify as such.
This analysis is drawn from data from the KFF Covid-19 Vaccination Monitor for October 2021, based on telephone interviews with 1,519 US adults between October 14 and 24.
Republicans now make up the largest proportion of unvaccinated Americans since the KFF began tracking this statistic.
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“While other groups, such as the uninsured, younger adults, rural residents and those with a lower level of education, continue to be vaccinated to a lesser extent, the multivariate analysis – a statistical model that separates the influence of these different factors – indicates that partisanship stands out as the strongest predictor of vaccine acceptance, “wrote the KFF analysts.
Analysts also found that unvaccinated Republicans were generally less highly educated, younger, and more likely to live in rural areas than vaccinated Republicans.
Still, 59% of those who are or lean Republican have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine.
In looking at attitudes around vaccination, KFF researchers found that “the attitudes of vaccinated Republicans are much more similar to those of unvaccinated Republicans than to vaccinated Democrats, highlighting the strong correlation between these attitudes and partisanship, regardless of vaccination status. “
Vaccinated Republicans were less likely to say that the severity of COVID-19 is exaggerated or that getting vaccinated is a personal choice than unvaccinated Republicans, but they were still much more likely to give these responses than vaccinated Democrats.