WC Wisconsin News

Public shaming is unpopular when it comes to people who choose to opt-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans are against individuals who assassinate someone's character after they make the choice to not get the vaccine. 

This survey was conducted by the Trafalgar Group, in partnership with the Convention of States Action (COSA) and surveyed 1,085 likely general election voters.

The poll finds that a sizable majority of Americans did not agree with public figures shaming those who have not gotten a COVID vaccine and did not believe that this shaming is an effective way to increase vaccination rates with 59.8% disapproving of "vaccine shaming" and only 23.7% approved.

"Those who choose not to get vaccinated are making a poor health decision at their own individual risk," Dr. Marty Makary said in a U.S. News op-ed. "Let's encourage vaccination rather than activate the personal liberty culture wars that result in people becoming more entrenched in their opposition."

While the poll results varied quite a bit based on party affiliation, at least a plurality of each group disapproved of vaccine shaming. This includes 77.7% of Republicans and 40.5% of Democrats (only 36% of Democrats approved of the shaming). Over 61% of third-party and independent respondents also disapproved.

The Wisconsin Department of Health reports that 52.06% of Wisconsin residents have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, with 49.6% being fully vaccinated.

"While vaccine requirements for health care workers make sense, we would never extend those requirements outside of health care for, say, the flu shot," Dr. Makary said, told by U.S. News. "We'd simply state to the public: Those who avoid the flu shot do so at their own risk."

COSA is a grassroots political organization with over 5 million supporters across the United States. The organization's primary focus is on calling an Article V Convention of the States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. COSA only promotes amendments that would impose limitations on the size and scope of the federal government.

The Trafalgar Group is a public polling and market research firm. Its website states that Real Clear Politics called it the "most accurate pollster of the cycle among those firms that polled multiple Senate and governor races” this year.