HPU POLL: MAJORITY OF NORTH CAROLINIANS WANT TO GET OR HAVE GOTTEN COVID-19 VACCINATION
Published March 10, 2021
A majority of North Carolinians in a new High Point University Poll said they intend to get a COVID-19 vaccination or have already had one. Two out of five (41%) of North Carolina residents said they intended to be vaccinated when a COVID-19 vaccination is available to them, 34% said they did not intend to get the shot, and 13% said they had already received the vaccine. An additional 11% said they did not know, were unsure or refused to answer.
A majority of North Carolinians (54%) reported that they are concerned about becoming sick with COVID-19, and an additional 6% said they had already tested positive. Approximately one-third (37%) said they were not concerned about getting sick with COVID-19.
A large majority (72%) of N.C. residents said they are very or somewhat concerned about different variants of the COVID-19 virus that were first found in places like South Africa, the United Kingdom or Brazil. A total of 24% said they are not very or not at all concerned about these COVID-19 variants.
Large majorities of North Carolinians also said the coronavirus is a major threat to the U.S. economy (71%), the world economy (69%), the North Carolina economy (65%) and the health of the U.S. population (63%). Only a little over one-third of these poll respondents said the coronavirus is a major threat to their personal health (36%) and to their personal financial situation (32%).
“Majorities of North Carolina residents are very concerned or somewhat concerned about the different variants of COVID-19,” said Brian McDonald, associate director of the HPU Poll and adjunct instructor. “Our poll respondents also see the coronavirus as a major threat to the U.S. and world economy even if smaller proportions see it as a major threat to their own finances.”
The poll also asked about which people or organizations North Carolinians trust as sources of information about coronavirus. Almost a majority (49%) of respondents said they had a lot of trust in their physician. Other people and organizations in which North Carolinians were most likely to have a lot of trust include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (40%), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (34%), their pharmacist (32%), the World Health Organization (WHO) (32%), and their local health officials (30%). The groups of people in whom North Carolinians were least likely to have a lot of trust were their coworkers, classmates or other acquaintances (10%) and their contacts on social media (8%).
Meanwhile, 42% of North Carolinians said they had a seasonal influenza vaccine last year, while 56% said they did not. Of those who had not had the flu vaccine last year (approximately half of those who responded to the poll), 18% said they intended to get it this year, and 72% said they did not intend to get it.
The poll also found that a majority (59%) of North Carolinians said that the focus on COVID-19 this fall and winter has taken attention away from the risks of flu. Another 29% said they did not think the focus on COVID-19 had taken attention away from flu, and 12% said they did not know or did not offer a response.
“One small silver lining we’ve seen with the COVID-19 pandemic is a drastic reduction in medical care, hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza.” said Dr. Jordan Smith, assistant professor of pharmacy practice in HPU’s Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy. “Mask wearing and distancing are important for preventing COVID-19 spread, but they have also likely limited the spread of influenza so far this year. We’ve also seen an increase in the amount of people who have received their annual influenza vaccine. Hopefully, these preventative measures will allow our current flu trajectory to continue throughout the season.”
All adults – Concerned about COVID-19 (February 2021)
Are you concerned about becoming sick with the COVID-19 virus, or are you not concerned about that?
Concerned – 54%
Not Concerned – 37%
Don’t know/Refused/Unsure – 3%
(Already tested positive for COVID-19) – 6%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Flu Shot Last Year (February 2021)
Did you receive the seasonal influenza vaccine last year?
Yes – 42%
No – 56%
Unsure – 2%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Flu Shot This Year (February 2021)
Do you intend to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine this year?
(Asked only of n=491 respondents who had not received the seasonal flu vaccine)
Yes – 18%
No – 72%
Don’t know/Refused – 9%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Intent to Take COVID-19 Vaccine (February 2021)
Do you intend to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one is available to you? Please let me know if you have ALREADY gotten vaccinated against COVID-19.
Yes – 41%
No – 34%
Already received – 13%
Don’t know/Refused – 11%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Coronavirus Threat (February 2021)
How much of a threat, if any, is the Coronavirus outbreak to each of the following? Would you say a major threat, a minor threat, or not a threat? (RANDOMIZED LIST)
| A major threat | A minor threat | Not a threat | (Don’t know) | |
| The U.S. economy | 71% | 20% | 5% | 4% |
| The world economy | 69% | 21% | 5% | 5% |
| The North Carolina economy | 65% | 24% | 7% | 5% |
| The health of the U.S. population | 63% | 27% | 7% | 3% |
| Your personal health | 36% | 39% | 23% | 3% |
| Your personal financial situation | 32% | 37% | 27% | 5% |
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Concern about COVID-19 Variants (February 2021)
How concerned would you say you are about different variants of the COVID-19 virus that were first found in places like South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Brazil?
Very concerned – 42%
Somewhat concerned – 30%
Not very concerned – 16%
Not at all concerned – 8%
Don’t know/Refused/Unsure – 4%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Concern about COVID-19 Variants (February 2021)
Do you think that the focus on COVID-19 this fall and winter has taken attention away from the risks of flu?
Yes – 59%
No – 29%
Don’t know/Refused/Unsure – 12%
(Telephone and online interviews with North Carolina residents, surveyed Feb. 12 – Feb. 26, n = 854 and credibility interval is +/- 3.7%)
All adults – Trust in Source of Information about COVID-19 (February 2021)
How much do you trust the following sources of information about the coronavirus? Would you say a lot, somewhat, a little, or not at all? (RANDOMIZED LIST)
| A lot | Somewhat | A little | Not at all | (Don’t know/
Refused) |
|
| Your physician | 49% | 25% | 13% | 7% | 6% |
| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | 40% | 25% | 16% | 14% | 6% |
| The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | 34% | 30% | 16% | 15% | 6% |
| Your pharmacist | 32% | 32% | 19% | 9% | 8% |
| The World Health Organization (WHO) | 32% | 25% | 14% | 23% | 7% |
| Local public health officials such as officials from your county health department | 30% | 35% | 19% | 11% | 5% |
| Your close friends and members of your family | 22% | 34% | 27% | 12% | 7% |
| Your local TV news | 17% | 30% | 27% | 20% | 6% |
| Public television and radio | 16% | 29% | 24% | 25% | 7% |
| National newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today | 14% | 28% | 21% | 28% | 9% |
| National news networks like Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC | 13% | 27% | 24% | 29% | 6% |
| Your local newspaper | 13% | 27% | 26% | 23% | 12% |
| Your coworkers, classmates, or other acquaintances | 10% | 26% | 29% | 25% | 10% |
| Your contacts on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) | 8% | 12% | 26% | 43% | 11% |
The most recent HPU Poll was fielded by live interviewers at the High Point University Survey Research Center calling on Feb. 12 through Feb. 26, 2021 and an online survey fielded at the same time. The responses from a sample of all North Carolina counties came from 854 adults interviewed online (549 respondents) as well as landline or cellular telephones (305 respondents). The Survey Research Center contracted with dynata, formerly Research Now SSI: https://www.dynata.com/ to acquire these samples, and fielded the online survey using the SRC’s Qualtrics platform. This is a combined sample of live phone interviews and online interviews. The online sampling is from a panel of respondents, so their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign a classical margin of sampling error for the results. In this case, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.4 percentage points) and a design effect of 1.2 (based on the weighting). The data is weighted toward population estimates for age, gender, and race/ethnicity based on U.S. Census numbers for North Carolina. Factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls. Details from this survey are available at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/files/2021/03/79memoA.pdf
Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past studies can be found at the Survey Research Center website at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/. The materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.
The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative. For more information, see http://transparency.aapor.org/index.php/transparency.
You can follow the HPU Poll on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter.
Martin Kifer, chair and associate professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll, and Brian McDonald is the associate director of the HPU Poll.
