Still Ignorant About COVID Vaccines

I'll never understand why what political party you belong to should influence whether or not you get a vaccine!  Whatever happened to plain old common sense?

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An excerpt from Pew Research Center 11/18/25:

Have changes to CDC guidelines influenced Americans’ COVID-19 vaccine decisions?
By Giancarlo Pasquini and Brian Kennedy

"In early October, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its COVID-19 vaccine guidelines. Previous guidelines recommended that virtually everyone get a COVID-19 vaccine, but the CDC now advises Americans to work with a health care provider to determine if the vaccine is right for them.

"But most Americans either haven’t heard about these changes or say that the changes have not influenced their decisions around getting an updated vaccine, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

"More than four-in-ten Americans (44%) say they have heard nothing at all about the CDC’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. And among those who have heard at least a little, 63% say the changes have had no influence on their decision whether to get an updated vaccine. Overall, 20% both have heard about the changes and say they’ve influenced their decision on whether to get an updated vaccine.

How many Americans want an updated COVID-19 vaccine?

"A majority of U.S. adults (59%) say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. This is roughly identical to the share who said in October 2024 that they probably wouldn’t get the updated vaccine.

"In the new survey, 26% of Americans say they do want an updated vaccine. Another 13% say they already got one as of late October 2025.

Differences by party and age

"An overwhelming majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (83%) say they don’t want an updated vaccine. In contrast, 44% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say they want an updated vaccine, and 20% say they already got one.

"A quarter of Americans ages 65 and older say they already got an updated vaccine – larger than the shares in younger age groups. Older Americans are among the groups most at risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

"Yet older Republicans and older Democrats have sharply different views on the vaccine. About four-in-ten Democrats ages 65 and older say they already got one, and 43% say they want to get one. But 76% of Republicans ages 65 and older say they don’t want an updated vaccine.

"In summer 2021, not long after COVID-19 vaccines first became available, large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans ages 65 and older said they had received the vaccine."