Poll: Half of US workers back office shot mandates
Associated Press
NEW YORK â Half of American workers are in favor of vaccine requirements at their workplaces, according to a poll, at a time when such mandates gain traction following the federal governmentâs full approval of Pfizerâs COVID-19 vaccine.
The poll from Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that about 59% of remote workers favor vaccine requirements in their own workplaces, compared with 47% of those who are working in person. About one-quarter of workers â in person and remote â are opposed.
The sentiment is similar for workplace mask mandates, with 50% of Americans working in person favoring them and 29% opposed, while 59% of remote workers are in favor.
About 6 in 10 college graduates, who are more likely to have jobs that can be done remotely, support mask and vaccine mandates at their workplaces, compared with about 4 in 10 workers without college degrees.
Christopher Messick, an electrical engineer who is mostly working from home in Brunswick, Maryland, said he wrote to his companyâs human resources department to ask that employees be required to get vaccinated before they are recalled to the office.
Messick, who is vaccinated, said he doesnât just worry about his own health. He said he also doesnât want to worry about getting a breakthrough infection that could land an unvaccinated co-worker in the hospital.
âI donât want to sit in an office for eight hours a day with someone who is not vaccinated,â Messick, 41, said. âThe people who are anti-vax, I see them as selfish.â
Many vaccine requirements are coming from private companies with employees who have mostly been able to work from home during the pandemic. The companies, including major tech companies and investment banks, have workforces that are already largely vaccinated and consider the requirement a key step toward eventually reopening offices.
In contrast, few companies that rely on hourly service workers have imposed vaccine mandates because the companies are concerned about losing staff at a time of acute labor shortages and turnover.
The AP-NORC poll was conducted before the FDA granted full approval of Pfizerâs vaccine, which some experts and employers are hoping will persuade more people to get the shot and support mandates.
The AP-NORC poll showed high support for vaccine mandates among those who say they work in person in a health care setting, with 70% approving of vaccine requirements at their workplace.
The poll also showed divisions along racial lines.
Seventy-three percent of Black workers and 59% of Hispanic workers â who are more likely than white workers to work in front-line jobs â support mask mandates at their workplaces, compared with 42% of white workers. In addition, 53% of Black and Hispanic workers support vaccine mandates at their workplaces, as do 44% of white workers.
Despite mixed support for mandates among in-person employees, 71% of those workers said they themselves are vaccinated.
Many large retailers, grocery store chains, food manufacturers and other companies have encouraged vaccinations with bonuses, time off, information campaigns and on-site vaccination access.
