Two-Thirds of the Public Say the U.S. Should Play a Major Role in Distributing COVID-19 Vaccines Globally, But Not Most Republicans

With increased awareness of the global need for COVID-19 vaccines and today's announcement by the Biden government of how it plans to distribute the first portion of the 80 million doses it will distribute by the end of this month, the latest KFF Health Tracking Survey poses notes that two-thirds of the public (66%) say the US should play at least an "important role" in distributing COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, including about a quarter (27%) who say it should play a "leading role". "

Almost 9 out of 10 Democrats support the US to play at least a "major role" (87%), while most Republicans (57%) say the US should play a "minor role" or "no role at all" higher than the 41% who want the US to be a “leading” or “big role”.

The stocks that say the US should at least have a major role to play rise when people are told the US has enough COVID-19 vaccine to help other countries without affecting their own supplies %) that the pandemic is much worse in other countries and they need access to vaccines to stop their spread (77%) or that providing vaccines to other countries could help the US achieve the immunity needed to contain the pandemic to obtain (76%). According to each of these messages, at least half of Republicans say the US should play a leading or important role in the overseas distribution of vaccines.

The survey also measures public health priorities and finds that large segments of the public view each of the nine proposals tested as “top” or “important” priorities for Congress.

That includes at least 8 in 10 who say the federal government can negotiate lower prices directly with drug makers (92%), which extends Medicare coverage to hearing aids, dental and visual aids (90%) -costs that seniors use each year paying for things like prescription drugs (88%); and ongoing efforts to ensure US citizens receive a COVID-19 vaccine (81%).

Other priorities for Congress include expanding public health insurance for low-income people in states that have not expanded their Medicaid program (78%), creating a public option to compete with private insurance (71%) or lower the age of Medicare eligibility (66%).

Democrats are generally more inclined than Republicans to prioritize each of these health issues as priorities for Congress. Action to tackle the cost of drugs is the only one that majorities of Democrats, Independents and Republicans identify as “top” priorities.

When asked directly whether they approve or disapprove of the federal government negotiating with drug manufacturers to lower prices for both Medicare and private insurance, the vast majority of the public (88%) are in favor. The survey suggests that these views may change in a national debate, with arguments for and against the approach.

Centimeters (up to 90%) support when the public hears that people could save money on their prescription drugs if this policy were implemented. On the other hand, nearly two-thirds (65%) say they oppose such a policy after being told that "it could lead to less research and development of new drugs" or "limit people's access to newer prescription drugs" . These arguments are equally effective with Democrats and Republicans.

Further findings are:

• The COVID Relief Act, passed in March, offers additional financial support to people who purchase their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Few (7%) of those who might be eligible for this support are aware of this fact.
• Far more rate the Affordable Care Act as positive (53%) than negative (35%). This reflects a large partisan divide, with most Democrats (85%) and a slim majority of Independents (54%) viewing them positive and most Republicans (77%) negative.
• Larger majorities, including most Republicans, see both Medicare (78%) and Medicaid (74%) as positive.

The KFF health tracking survey, designed and analyzed by pollsters at KFF, was carried out from May 18th to 25th among a nationwide representative sample of 1,526 adults. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (248) and mobile phone (1,278). The sampling error margin for the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Results based on subgroups may have a higher sampling error rate.