64% Of Marylanders Plan To Get COVID Vaccine Or Already Have Gotten At Least First Dose, New Goucher Poll Finds
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A new Goucher College poll shows 64% of Marylanders plan to get vaccinated as soon as they can or have already received at least one dose.
However, 15% of Maryland residents said they want to wait to see how the vaccines are working, and 18% said they will only get the shot if it's required or will "definitely not" get vaccinated:
"Vaccine hesitancy has declined among Maryland residents over the past few months," said Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College. "Notably, our poll results also show that Black Marylanders are not significantly more hesitant to get the vaccine than their white counterparts. There are, however, differences across party lines: Republicans are more resistant to taking the vaccine than Democrats. The big picture is that most Marylanders will get the vaccine as soon as it's available to them."
Kromer said more people are willing to get a shot now than last fall.
"The more and more people get it, the more likely that it is for you or an individual to know somebody who's got it," she said. "And if they see that person not experiencing any real side effects, they are going to be encouraged to get it as well."
The poll also found that only about a third of Marylanders polled said the state government is doing an "excellent or good job" in distributing the vaccine.
Sixty-six percent think they are doing "fair or poor."
People WJZ spoke with on Monday agreed with the assessment.
"I think it probably could've been handled better," Anne Arundel County resident Bernadette Simon said.
"It's not as quick as I thought it would be," Baltimore County resident Diane Fisher said.
Still, that didn't impact Marylanders' ratings of Gov. Larry Hogan's job performance. The poll found nearly 75% of respondents said the governor is doing a good job and every single person WJZ interviewed on Monday agreed.
"I think he's doing a good job, I do," Simon said.
"I love Governor Hogan," Stephanie Washington said.
Polling data also showed signs of mental health issues related to the pandemic.
Read the full Part 1 of the poll here.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
