Thursday, Jul. 29, 2021
Are white evangelicals more hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine than other religious groups?
Polling finds that white evangelicals have the highest vaccine hesitancy among religious groups.
In a Pew Research survey conducted in February, 45% of white evangelicals responded that they would “definitely” or “probably…not get a vaccine,” compared to 36% of other Protestants, 22% of Catholics, and 28% of the religiously unaffiliated.
The Public Religion Research Institute similarly found that white evangelicals “stand out as the most likely to say they will refuse to get vaccinated,” at 26%, compared to 17% of other Protestants, 9% of Catholics, and 12% of the religiously unaffiliated.
KFF in its June survey found that white evangelicals expressed hesitancy or outright refusal at rates comparable to all rural residents and declared Republicans.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Pew Research 10 facts about Americans and coronavirus vaccines
- Public Religion Research Institute Religious identities and the race against the virus
- KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: June 2021
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
See all fact briefs
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Learn MoreLatest Fact Briefs
Is there a scientific consensus that life begins at conception?
Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022
Do countries around the world subsidize fossil fuels?
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022
Is the repeal of Roe v. Wade expected to increase the maternal death rate?
Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2022