Nearly 6 in 10 Older Americans Don’t Know When or Where They Can Get a COVID-19 Vaccine; Black and Hispanic Adults among the Groups Least Likely to Have Enough Information

While older Americans are a high priority group for getting a COVID-19 vaccine, the latest report from the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor finds that among those not yet vaccinated, most people age 65 and older do not have enough information about it when (58%) and where (59%) they can be vaccinated.

Most key workers, another high-priority group, say they have enough information about where to get a vaccine (55%) but not enough information about when to get vaccinated (55%). This includes some health care workers who have not yet been vaccinated and who say they do not have enough information about when to be vaccinated (21%).

“The Biden government is facing a major challenge with vaccine delivery. Most Americans don't know when or where to get a vaccine, including older Americans who are already eligible to get a vaccine in a growing number of states, ”said Drew Altman, President and CEO of KFF. "Understandably, a large number of people are frustrated, angry, and confused."

The results highlight a key challenge facing health authorities as they seek to get their limited vaccine supplies into the arms of priority populations. While priorities vary across states, older Americans and at least some key workers have high priorities for early stages of interstate distribution.

In the general public, most who have not yet been vaccinated say they do not have enough information on when and how to get a vaccine (60%) or where to get a vaccine (55%).

Black and Hispanic adults and low-income households are among the groups least likely to say they have enough information. Within each group, at least two-thirds say they don't have enough information about when they can be vaccinated, and at least 6 in 10 say they don't have enough information about where to get vaccinated.

Based on the latest Monitor poll conducted in the final days of the Trump administration, the Monitor report finds that about two-thirds (65%) of the public rate the federal government's distribution efforts as "fair" or "bad." .

There is a large loophole in partisan assessments of the federal government's performance. Republicans are more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the federal government is doing an "excellent" or "good" job (43% vs 17%), and Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to give negative marks (80% vs 17%, 46%) . Independents fall in the middle, two thirds give the federal government negative marks.

Most Americans also rate their state government's performance as fair or poor (60%), albeit without a party-political divide, as the majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents hold.

About half (48%) of the public expect vaccine distribution to "get better" under President Biden's administration, while most others expect the situation to "stay about the same" (36%). Relatively few (12%) expect the distribution to "worsen".

Democrats mostly expect improvements under President Biden (83%), as do a large number of independents (45%). While few (12%) Republicans expect the situation to "improve" under President Biden, most (57%) expect it to remain about the same.

With millions of healthcare workers, residents and long-term care workers and older adults across the country already vaccinated against COVID-19, most (66%) of the public are “optimistic” that things will get better.

At the same time, half (50%) say they are “frustrated”, a third (33%) say they are “confused”, and almost a quarter (23%) say they are “angry”, which is the case Highlights upcoming difficulties Vaccine rollout continues.

While optimism crosses the party lines, more Democrats (61%) than Republicans (42%) or Independents (48%) say they are frustrated, reflecting their greater concerns about the pandemic. The groups most likely to express confusion about the current situation include at least four in ten black adults (46%), those under the age of 30 (40%), and those with an annual income below $ 40,000 (42%).

Further results are:

• Two-thirds (65%) of the public, including most Democrats (70%), Independents (64%) and Republicans (59%), are confident that vaccines will be distributed fairly, similar to the December KFF COVID-19 -Vaccine monitor where 67% of adults found that the vaccine would be distributed fairly.
• While most black adults are confident that overall vaccines will be distributed fairly, half (52%) say they lack confidence that black people's needs are being met. A significant minority (44%) of Hispanic adults lack confidence that the needs of the Hispanic population are being served.

Next week, KFF will be releasing new evidence about people's willingness to get a vaccine.

The KFF Vaccine Monitor survey, designed and analyzed by KFF public pollsters, was conducted January 11-18 among a nationwide representative sample of 1,563 adults with random dial choices, including over-samples of adults who were black (310) or Spanish (306) are ). The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (287) and mobile phone (1,276). The margin of error in the sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.

The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project that tracks public attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations. Using a combination of surveys and qualitative research, this project tracks the dynamics of public opinion during the development and diffusion of vaccines, including the trust and reluctance of vaccines, trusted ambassadors and messages, and the public's experience with vaccines.