Faith and Attitudes Toward Covid Vaccination

 

Religious Identities and the Race Against the Virus:

 Engaging Faith Communities on COVID-19 Vaccination

The above is a link to the full report, which has an executive summary. However there is also a webinar including slides which can be accessed here: Faith-Based Approaches Can Positively Impact COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts.  The first thirty minutes of their ninety minute program is a fine graphical presentation much of which I have summarized in one chart below.

Attitudes Toward Vaccination (%)

	Acceptor	Wait and See	Only if required	Refused
Americans	58	19	9	14
Democrats	73	15	6	6
Independents	58	20	9	13
Republicans	45	32	12	23
		Hesitant
Jewish	85	10		5
White Catholics	68	23		8
White Mainline	63	24		13
Unaffiliated	60	28		12
Hispanic Catholic	56	34		10
Mormon	50	33		17
Black Protestant	49	32		19
While Evangelicals	45	28		26
Hispanic  Protestant	43	42		15
White: 4 yr. degree	77	16		7
Black: 4yr. degree	66	25		9
Hispanic:4yr degree	66	26		8
65 and older	79	13		7
50-64	58	27		14
30-49	48	35		17
18-29	49	33		18

My Comments

1. Respondents were classified as either a) Acceptors, if they said they had already received a dose, or planned to be vaccinated ASAP, or b) Hesitant if they said they would wait and see, or said they would get the vaccine only if required, and c) Refused if they said they will not get the vaccine. I was disappointed that they did not give a breakdown for the Hesitant for all categories like they did for Democrats, Independents and Republicans. I suspect the sample size was too small to provide a reliable breakdown among smaller groups such as religious affiliations.

2. Jews (85%) followed by White Catholics (68%) have the highest degree of acceptance. The researchers attributed this to education since seventy-seven percent of White four year college graduates are acceptors. While they found that most Americans agreed that getting the vaccine was a way of showing love for neighbor, e.g. Jews (69%) but Catholics only(59), they suggested that the underlying factor is education.

There are distinct educational gaps over whether Americans agree that getting vaccinated is a way to express love for their neighbors. Americans with a high school degree or less (43%) are less likely than those with some college experience (53%), those who have four-year college degrees (64%), and those who have postgraduate degrees (70%) to agree. These educational differences are particularly pronounced among white Americans.

3. Obviously Republicans among political groups have the highest rate of refusal (23%) but White Evangelicals have an even higher rate of refusal (26%). However an even stronger source of refusal among Republican is associated with trusted news sources.  Only 11% of Republicans who trusted the mainstream news were refusers, followed by Fox News with 16% refusers, However 31% of those whose most trusted sources were the far right were refusers, and 35% who said they had no trusted television news sources were refusers. Trusted news sources had no effect among Democrats and Independents.

4. By and large persons sixty five and older (79%) either have gotten the vaccine or will get it ASAP. Thirteen percent are hesitant and but only seven percent intend to refuse. 

5. Only about one in five Americans (21%) agree with the statement “God always rewards those who have faith with good health and will protect them from being infected with COVID-19,” compared to 76% who disagree. 

Hispanic Protestants (35%) and Hispanic Catholics (35%) are most likely to agree that God will protect them from being infected with COVID-19. About one in four white evangelical Protestants (26%), other Protestants of color (23%), and other Christians (23%) agree. One in five or less among other groups agree, including 20% of white mainline Protestants, 19% of members of other non-Christian religions, 18% of white Catholics, 16% of Mormons, and 12% of Jewish Americans. Black Protestants (38%) are the most likely to hold this belief, while religiously unaffiliated Americans (9%) are the least likely to do so.

A large part of the report has not been summarized because it deals with various faith  based approaches to persuading the hesitant. These were mostly more appropriate to groups other than White Catholics. 

My Thoughts on Persuading Catholics 

1. While only eight percent of Catholics completely refuse to get the vaccine, we have many large congregations at Mass, and therefore if we vaccinated everyone but those who refuse, we could have 80 unvaccinated persons at a Mass for a thousand. Therefore we want to get as many of the hesitant as possible vaccinated. 

2.  It is important to not make this a political issue because it isn't even though Republicans are more likely to be rejecters than Democrats. That can easily be explained since White Evangelicals and Whites who have less than a college education are far more likely to be Republicans than Democrats. While some Republican leaders have not been very supportive of mask requirements, they have generally supported the value of the vaccine.

3.With almost sixty percent of Americans wanting the vaccine ASAP, it is important to add another twenty percent (mostly from the wait and see category) ASAP to bring the vaccinated up to eighty percent. This is far more likely to bring about normal conditions when we can go to church and have congregational singing without wearing masks and having social distancing.  Not getting the vaccine with only sixty percent vaccinated means that one has a high probably of being vaccinated by the virus itself. We don't want to have to go through a lot more hospitalizations and deaths to defeat the virus. 

4. The longer we allow the virus to run rampant the more likely it is to develop mutants that make it more contagious, more deadly, and more resistant to current vaccines. We don't want to have to go through another eighteen month period of testing and then implementing a completely new vaccine. We don't want to develop this virus into a seasonal virus that causes far more sickness and death than the flu.

5. The most vulnerable elderly and the well educated have looked at the evidence and therefore have chosen to get the vaccine ASAP.  As Catholics we are fortunate that most of us have also figured this out; we just need to encourage as many of us as possible to change from "wait and see" to the ASAP category.

6. About one in five of Americans (21%) believe that God will protect them even if they don't get the vaccine.  Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw himself down from the temple since obviously God would protect him.  Jesus responded that we should not put God to the test. If those around us are getting the vaccine to protect themselves and others, God may just decide that we need to learn a lesson in humility. 

7. When I received the vaccine I was given a large sticker from the county health department not as an official record but as a sign, like the voting decals, that I hade done my civic duty. There are many such stickers and buttons on the internet..  Perhaps we would feel that we are closer to  end of the pandemic if these began to sprout at our Masses, parish gatherings and elsewhere as we go about our business. Let's inform others that we have done our civic duty and encourage them to get vaccinated.