SW Iowa Times

The majority of Americans surveyed in a recent poll said publicly shaming those who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 is a big no-no.

This survey was conducted by the Trafalgar Group, in partnership with the Convention of States Action and surveyed 1,085 likely general election voters.

The poll finds that a sizable majority of Americans surveyed did not agree with public figures being openly critical of those who have not gotten a COVID-19 vaccine as an appropriate way to increase vaccination rates. Overall, 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 opinion piece. "... Let's encourage vaccination rather than activate the personal liberty culture wars that result in people becoming more entrenched in their opposition."

The poll results varied quite a bit based on party affiliation. Of Republicans, 77.7% did not think being openly critical of the unvaccinated was an appropriate way to increase vaccination rate. Of Democrats, 40.5% did not think it was appropriate. Of third-party and independent respondents, 61.4% also disapproved. Only 36% of Democrats did approve of this method to increase vaccination rates. 

The Iowa Department of Health reported that 47.6% of residents are fully vaccinated as of Aug. 17. This amounts to 1.56 million fully vaccinated people in the state.

"While vaccine requirements for health care workers make sense, we would never extend those requirements outside of health care for, say, the flu shot," Makary said, according to 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 is a grassroots political organization with over 5 million supporters across the United States, according to its website. The organization's primary focus is on calling an Article V Convention of the States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It 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.