Results from a new USC Dornsife study show that U.S. adults with higher education are significantly more likely to get a COVID-19 vaccination and to believe in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
Contact: Jenesse Miller, (213) 810-8554 or jenessem@usc.edu or Jim Key, (619) 253-1077 or jameskey@usc.edu
New findings from the Understanding Coronavirus in America Study reveal that when it comes to attitudes and beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine — from willingness to get the vaccine, to knowing someone who has been vaccinated, to perceived risks of vaccine side effects — there is a substantial gap between more- and less-educated U.S. residents.
Researchers with the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) found that more than 3 out of 4 (76%) U.S. adults with at least a bachelor’s degree have already been vaccinated or plan to be, compared to just over half (53%) of those without a college degree. That’s a change from earlier in the pandemic, when educational level played less of a role in people’s willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Read the full report on the new findings.
Experts available for comment:
“Results of our surveys earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic — before vaccines were approved — indicated that race and ethnicity would play a greater role than education level in people’s willingness to get the vaccine. But one year into this pandemic, with vaccines now being rolled out across the U.S., education level has become a greater factor than race.” – Jill Darling, survey director for CESR’s Understanding America Study.
“What we find driving the educational differences, along with racial and ethnic differences, in vaccine hesitancy is lack of trust in the vaccine development and approval process. Our findings indicate that, in addition to tailoring vaccine awareness campaigns to high-risk groups, policymakers should emphasize the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines particularly to those without college degrees. Trust is the big story here: Policymakers need to build trust among less-educated Americans.” – Kyla Thomas, sociologist with USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, which conducts the study.
“Moving forward, we have to work closely with information and communication channels people trust, like celebrities and leaders from the community and faith-based organizations.” – Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, professor of preventive medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC and research scientist, USC COVID-19 Pandemic Research Center.
- The share of adults without a college degree who say they are unlikely to get vaccinated is about the same among Black and white people — 32% and 35%, respectively. But the share of adults without a college degree who are not sure about their likelihood of getting vaccinated is much higher among Blacks (23%) than whites (11%).
- There’s only a small gap in willingness to get the vaccine between Asian Americans with and without a college degree.
Education level plays a role in underestimating effectiveness, overestimating risks
On a range of measures related to vaccine experiences and attitudes, including assessing both effectiveness and the risk of serious side effects, people’s level of education plays a large role. U.S. adults with at least a bachelor’s degree view the vaccine as much safer and more effective than those with less education.
- Overall, U.S. adults believe there is a 30% chance, on average, that someone who has been vaccinated will still get COVID-19 and a 26% chance of serious side effects from the vaccine.
- People with a college degree believe there is a 23% chance that a vaccinated person will still get COVID-19, while those with less education believe there is a 34% chance.
- Similarly, people with a college degree believe there is about a 15% chance for a serious side effect from the vaccine, while those with less education estimate the risk to be twice as high, at 31%.
U.S. adults with college degrees are also more likely to personally know someone who has been vaccinated.
- 54% of U.S. adults overall know a friend or family member who has been vaccinated, but U.S. adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher are much more likely to know someone who has been vaccinated (69%), compared to those without a college degree (46%).
- 74% of college educated Latino people know someone who has been vaccinated, compared to 46% of Latinos with less education.
- 55% of Black people with a bachelor’s degree or higher know someone who has been vaccinated, compared to 41% of those with less education.
About the study
The data was collected from participants in the Understanding America Study (UAS), which is a nationally representative, probability-based online panel of adults who answer tracking survey questions every two weeks.
Findings in this release are based on 6,231 participants, including over 1,100 Los Angeles County residents, who were drawn from the more than 8,000 members of the UAS. Participants responded between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 16, 2021. Margin of sampling error is +/- 1 percentage point for the national sample, +/-2 percentage points for the education subgroups, and +/- 3 percentage points for the L.A. County subsample. Margins of sampling error may be higher for race and ethnicity sub-groups, and are available in the survey’s topline and crosstab reports.
The report, COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Education Divide Widens, is available here.
More information on how the survey was conducted, as well as links to topline and crosstabs reports, and graphs that are updated daily, are available at covid19pulse.usc.edu.
Image via iStock
