The issue of COVID vaccination is dividing American families. A majority of vaccinated Americans do not even wish to invite unvaccinated relatives to their holiday parties, while almost half have cut off family members over their vaccination status, according to a recent poll.
A survey of 2,000 U.S. residents, conducted by OnePoll on November 2, examined how the issue of COVID vaccination has impacted people’s relationships with their “loved ones” ahead of the holiday season.
According to the findings,
“Nearly seven in 10 respondents (67%) said they feel they cannot go home for the holidays without getting vaccinated first.
Of the 65% who are fully vaccinated, six in 10 (58%) have reportedly cut off family members who refuse to get vaccinated, while 63% don’t feel comfortable inviting unvaccinated relatives to their parties.”
Already, 22 percent of unvaccinated respondents have said they have been excluded from all family gatherings, including the holidays. Fifty-eight percent of the same group, however, stated that they’re still welcome at family gatherings.
At the same time, those vaccinated overwhelmingly gave up on “educating” their unvaxxed relatives to get a shot:
Seventy-two percent of vaccinated respondents don’t think they could ever get some of these family members to understand the importance of the vaccine.
Per the survey, 14 percent of respondents indicated they don’t plan to get vaccinated, citing such reasons as vaccines’ dubious safety profile and the risks of side effects. The rushed manner in which vaccines were developed and their lack of efficacy in preventing infection were also mentioned.
Half of the unvaccinated said they ceased contact with “family members who don’t understand why they refuse the shot.”
For those families who were more open to celebrating the holidays with their vaccine-hesitant relatives, more than half (56 percent) still anticipated having an argument about COVID vaccination over the dinner table.
The issue of COVID vaccination has been largely shifted from the medical to political realm, and that drives the divide in families, the poll shows:
Regardless of their vaccination status, half (53%) of those polled agreed that the politicization of the vaccine has completely divided their families, and four in five (79%) believe politics should be excluded from science or medicine.
That latter finding suggests that both “pro-“ and “anti-“ vaxxers view the opposite side as the force that got out of touch with “science.”
Back in September, a Harris Poll got similar results: A majority of vaccinated Americans said they would be uncomfortable around their unvaccinated “loved ones” during holiday family events.
Of the nearly 1,500 vaccinated adults polled, half said that they would be “extremely” or “considerably” hesitant to spend the holidays with unvaccinated family members or friends. Forty-two percent of vaccinated respondents were so against being in contact with somebody unvaccinated, they had already canceled an event or travel plans for that reason.
Vaccinated people were also likely to avoid large parties or gatherings (67 percent uncomfortable), school plays or performances (61 percent), and even weddings or other “milestone events” (61 percent) knowing some people in attendance would be unvaccinated.
While only 12 percent of the vaccinated people signaled they would “categorically” avoid any social and family events, many of them would rely on “precautionary measures” recommended by U.S. health authorities, including:
wearing a mask (64%), keeping physically distanced (59%), using hand sanitizer (54%), getting a booster shot if possible (26%) and getting tested for Covid-19 before and after the event (22%).
Only nine percent of the vaccinated participants said they would forgo all these “safety protocols” and just “hope for the best.”
The recent online survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of the Wexner Medical Center found that nearly half of the respondents plan to insist friends and family to wear masks during gatherings.
Around three-fourths said they will not be inviting any guests at all, and plan to celebrate with only members of their household.
Around 46 percent of respondents who will be having parties said they will require unvaccinated guests to get a negative COVID test before attending, and half said they will be asking their guests about their vaccination status.
Why are Americans who received “the best protection from COVID” — a vaccine — so afraid of their unvaxxed relatives?
That is, arguably, because the latter are perceived as a real threat.
To justify his sweeping and unconstitutional vaccine mandates that he announced on September 9, President Biden claimed such measures were necessary to “protect the vaccinated.” If that is the case, and vaccinated people are not sufficiently protected from the virus, it is unclear what is the point of vaccination in the first place.
Despite the evidence that vaccinated folks spread the virus at similar rates to the unvaccinated, and that the vaccines’ efficacy in protecting one from catching the virus lasts for a very limited time, as admitted by the vaccine manufacturers themselves, the U.S. political, medical, and media establishment pictures vaccine skeptics as “evil.” It is they, the narrative goes, who “threaten” the well-being of the whole nation.
“Our patience is running thin” with such people, the president said, while adding that he “understood” why so many vaccinated citizens are “angry” with the unvaccinated.
That negative stereotype seems to have taken root in minds of many Americans, judging from the polls’ findings.
