One-third of Texans likely to refuse COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds

About one-third of Texans said they are unlikely to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to research findings released this week by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs.

Of those, 22% said they will definitely not get vaccinated, while 10% would probably not get it, according to the survey results. The responses were two of six possible options available for the 1,329 respondents who participated in the online survey, which spanned Jan. 12-20 among Texans 18 years and older. Respondents were drawn from a sample list that considered gender, age, ethnicity/race and education.

The findings from the statewide survey are designed to offer insight into who is most likely to decline the vaccine as well as the reasons behind those decisions.

“A successful public immunization effort requires public trust,” said Renée Cross, senior director of the Hobby School, in a news release put out this week. “More than half of people who say they are certain or likely to refuse the shots said they don’t trust the government or the pharmaceutical companies to make sure the vaccine is safe.”

Meanwhile, more than 40% of Texans did say they are certain to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when the vaccine becomes available to them or have already received the vaccine.

The survey findings come as Texas has reported more than 2.4 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 37,000 deaths since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, more than 2.6 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered statewide. From those, over 2.04 million people have been vaccinated at least once, while over 561,000 have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.