Jaw-Dropping 76 PERCENT of Republicans Oppose Vaccine Requirement in Workplace as Covid Deaths Soar

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As Covid-19 deaths soared to almost 11,000 last week, a jaw-dropping 76 percent of Republicans still oppose requiring proof of vaccination at workplaces, and even more oppose the requirement in other settings.

According to the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center’s Coronavirus Resource Center, weekly deaths from Covid-19 have increased to 10,979 for the week ending September 5, an increase of nearly 2,000 from the week before — and a huge leap from the 2021 low of 1,625 in July.

But that has done little to convince Republicans that vaccine requirements are necessary to stem the tide of death. While support for vaccine requirements has increased steadily over the past several months, a new Gallup poll shows a stunning partisan divide on a public health measure that experts say is crucial to stopping the pandemic in its tracks.

Respondents to the poll were asked “Would you favor or oppose businesses requiring people to show proof of coronavirus/Covid-19 vaccination in order to do the following over the next several months?”

Among all respondents, a very solid 56 percent say they favor vaccine requirements in order to “Go to office or work site,” the most expansive of the situations polled.

But among Republicans, just 24 percent say they favor the requirement, while a whopping 76 percent say they oppose it. That opposition climbs as high as 79 percent when it comes to requiring proof of vaccination to dine in a restaurant.

Among Democrats, 88 percent favor the vaccine requirement for the workplace. Among self-identified independents, 43 percent support such a requirement, while 57 percent oppose it.

Gallup

The divide is also highlighted in the poll’s results among the vaccinated, 72 percent of whom support requiring proof of vaccination in the workplace, and the unvaccinated, 78 percent of whom oppose requiring proof of vaccination in the workplace.