News
A majority of Virginia parents are willing to have their children vaccinated
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
L. Douglas Wilder
Phone: (804) 827-0776
Email: ldwilder@vcu.edu
Robyn McDougle
Director, Center for Public Policy
Phone: (804) 721-6703
Email: rdmcdougle@vcu.edu
RICHMOND, Va. (May 6, 2021) — A majority of parents in Virginia are likely to get their children vaccinated. Sixty-six percent of parents with children age 12-17 are likely to vaccinate their children while 63% of parents with children age 11 and under are likely to vaccinate their children, according to the new statewide vaccine poll conducted for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management by the Research Institute for Social Equity (RISE) at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The region of the state in which parents reside impacts vaccine hesitancy regarding their children. Parents residing in the Northwest and Western regions of the state had the highest levels of hesitancy regarding vaccinating their children. Parents with children 12-17 in the Northwest (59%) and Western (84%) of the state were not likely to vaccinate their children. More than half of the parents of children 11 and under in the Northwest (58%) and the Western (53%) parts of the state were not likely to vaccinate their children and those.
Parent vaccination hesitancy had a significant impact on their views about vaccinating their children. Over 90% of the parents who stated they are unlikely to get themselves vaccinated were unlikely to vaccinate their children.
Parent race and ethnicity had no significant impact on parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children in either age group.
Parents’ Willingness to Send their Children Back to In-Person School in the fall
Almost three quarters (73%) of parents with children age 18 or under are willing to send their children back to in-person instruction in the fall.
Minorities are 2-3 times less willing to send their children back to in-person school in the fall than whites with African Americans (32%), Asians (34%), Hispanics (26%) in comparison to Whites (12%) saying they do not want to send their children back to in-person school.
“The willingness of a substantial majority of parents to have their children vaccinated, seemingly attests to the belief of the availability and efficacy of the vaccines however, the almost triple numbers of hesitancy in African Americans (32%), and Asians (34%), then whites (12%) to send their children back to in-person school reflects the historical skepticism,” said former Governor L. Douglas Wilder.
Seventy-three percent of Democrats and 80% of Republicans are willing to send their children back to school in-person in the fall.
Measures that were most likely to increase parents’ willingness to send their children back to in person school in the fall include:
- Limiting class sizes (60%);
- Requiring 14-day quarantine for faculty/staff with COVID-19 (59%);
- Conducting regular COVID-19 tests on teachers (56%).
Sixty percent of parents making $50,000 or less annually are likely to send their children back to school in-person in the fall compared to 77% of the parents making $100,000 or more annually.
Click here to view the full poll results and analysis.
ABOUT THE L. DOUGLAS WILDER SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Ranked in the top 15 percent nationally among schools of public affairs, the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University advances excellence in governance and promotes evidence-based public policy in Virginia and beyond. The Wilder School offers an array of graduate and undergraduate programs in virtually every policy area including criminal justice, homeland security and emergency preparedness, public administration, public policy and administration, and urban and regional studies and planning. Additionally, the Wilder School is home to a robust Center for Public Policy that provides applied research in the areas of state and local government, social equity, and leadership and a range of services to clients in state and local government, nonprofit organizations, businesses and the general public. Learn more at wilder.vcu.edu.
ABOUT THE VCU WILDER SCHOOL COMMONWEALTH POLL
For nearly three decades, the VCU Wilder School Commonwealth Poll has been an important bellwether for policymakers in Virginia and beyond on a range of topics, including voting intentions, economic and workforce development, education, housing, public health, public safety and racial equity. The Commonwealth Poll is a featured 2020 Presidential Election Poll by CNN, approved based on a rigorous review of methodologies and assumptions that ensure that CNN-cited polling entities are employing the gold standard in public opinion research