Why Increasing COVID-19 Fatalities May Not Sway the Unvaccinated

Daniel A. Cox September 30, 2021

Chart showing average daily Covid deaths in the U.S. in 2021

With nearly 700,000 Americans now dead from COVID-19, the US has reached yet another grim milestone. One in five hundred Americans have died from COVID-19. Unvaccinated Americans are suffering the vast majority of serious illnesses and deaths—in fact they are 11 times more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection. And it begs the question: As the unvaccinated see their friends and family members succumb to the disease, will it finally convince them to get vaccinated?

So far, the answer seems to be no. An Ipsos survey from early September shows that 39 percent of Americans know someone who died from COVID-19. But vaccination rates among Americans who know someone who died are only marginally higher than the rates among those who do not. What’s more, if you take education and political affiliation into account, knowing someone who has died from COVID-19 has no significant impact on the likelihood of being vaccinated.

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Survey Reports

Generation Z and the Transformation of American Adolescence Cover Image

Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond, Kyle Gray
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Generation Z and the Transformation of American Adolescence: How Gen Z’s Formative Experiences Shape Its Politics, Priorities, and Future

This report explores the foundational differences between American generations through their formative adolescent experiences.

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America is experiencing a crosscutting crisis of expertise and scientific distrust accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic that poses significant challenges to democratic debate and public decision-making

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The Social Workplace: Social Capital, Human Dignity, and Work in America, Volume II

The Social Workplace, Volume II examines Americans’ expectations and experiences surrounding work, the workplace, and key job-related priorities such as pay and interpersonal connections.

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Daniel A. Cox, Ruy Teixeira
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The 2024 Presidential Election: Evolving Political Coalitions and Familiar Partisan Divisions

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the AEI Survey Center on American Life conducted a national survey of Americans that explored a wide range of political attitudes, current voting preferences, and perceptions of the political parties.