Most American workers approve vaccinations and wear masks in the workplace: a poll

According to a new poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center, more than half of American workers support mandatory wearing of masks in the workplace, and half support mandatory vaccination.

Opinion polls found that 52% of workers support wearing masks for people who work in person, while only 29% oppose it. Supported by remote workers, a poll found that 59% of people said they would like to wear a mask in the workplace.

Similarly, 50% of employees support vaccine requirements, 59% of remote employees and 47% of employees currently working in person support requests. About a quarter of in-person and remote workers opposed.

For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.

About six out of ten college graduates are more likely to work on jobs that can be done remotely. They support the requirements for masks and vaccines in the workplace, while among workers without a college degree, about four out of ten support masks and vaccines. Require.

Christopher Messick, an electrical engineer who mainly works at home in Brunswick, Maryland, said he wrote to the company’s human resources department asking employees to be vaccinated before being recalled to the office.

Messik, who was vaccinated, said that he is not only worried about his health. He said he also doesn’t want to worry about breakthrough infections, which may hospitalize unvaccinated colleagues.

41-year-old Messick said: “I don’t want to sit in the office for 8 hours with someone who is not vaccinated every day. People who oppose vaccines, I think they are selfish.”

So far, many vaccine needs have come from private companies whose employees are mostly able to work from home during the pandemic. These companies, including major technology companies and investment banks, have their employees basically vaccinated and believe this requirement is a crucial step in the eventual reopening of offices. Goldman Sachs joined this trend on Tuesday, telling employees in a memo that starting September 7th, anyone entering its US office must be vaccinated.

In contrast, few companies that rely on hourly workers require mandatory vaccination because these companies worry about losing employees during periods of severe labor shortages and personnel turnover.Exceptions include food processing giants Tyson Foods and Walter Disney World reached an agreement with its union this week to require all workers at its theme park in Orlando, Florida to be vaccinated.

The AP-NORC poll is in Food and Drug Administration Fully approved PfizerSome experts and employers hope to persuade more people to get vaccinated and support authorization.

The pharmacy chain CVS said this week that pharmacists, nurses and other staff in contact with patients must be vaccinated, but the company did not require other employees such as cashiers to be vaccinated.

AP-NORC polls show that those who claim to work in a healthcare environment are highly supportive of vaccine requirements, with 70% of people approving vaccine requirements in their workplaces.

Opinion polls also showed differences between races.

73% of black workers and 59% of Hispanic workers—who are more likely to work in the front line than white workers—support wearing masks in their workplaces, compared with 42% of white workers. In addition, 53% of black and Hispanic workers support vaccination in their workplaces, as do 44% of white workers.

Although face-to-face employees differed in their support for enforcement, 71% of employees said they had vaccinated themselves.

Mike Rodriguez, a maintenance worker at a car dealership in Florida, said that after being diagnosed with diabetes, he was vaccinated in the spring, which gave him a sense of urgency. But he said that he tends not to support mandatory vaccination at work and does not mind not needing to wear a mask.

“I don’t like being told what to do. Never,” 54-year-old Rodriguez said. “I will wear mine anyway. It’s like every time I go to the store. It’s my choice.”

Many large retailers, grocery chains, food manufacturers and other companies actively encourage vaccination through bonuses, vacations, promotional activities and on-site vaccination.

Janet Haynes of Topeka, Kansas, an education consultant who works part-time as a package handler in a warehouse, said that she worked hard to get an appointment in March and placed herself in various positions before finally receiving a call. On the waiting list. Now that the vaccine is widely available, Haynes said she is frustrated by those who are unwilling to get the vaccine, and she will support a request from her warehouse where she avoids colleagues who ignore the requirement to wear masks.

“We are so fascinated by democracy and freedom, but the reality is that your freedom cannot exist at the expense of others,” Haynes said, adding that she recently had a breakthrough COVID-19 case and attributed it to the vaccine For her rapid recovery. “Until we are vaccinated, we will not be free.”

AP-NORC conducted a poll of 1,729 adults from August 12 to 16, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak group, which aims to represent the American population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.