Just one-quarter of American workers are opposed to vaccine requirements by their employers, according to the latest The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
The U.S. government has granted full approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and support for vaccine mandates appears to be growing.
A large majority of remote workers support vaccine mandates by their employer (59%) and 47% of in-person workers favor vaccine mandates, according to the poll.
The responses were similar for workplace mask mandates, too, as 50% of those respondents support employer mask mandates, while just 29% were opposed.
About 6 in 10 college graduates, who are more likely to have jobs that can be done remotely, support both mask and vaccine mandates at their workplaces, compared with about 4 in 10 workers without college degrees.
"I don't want to sit in an office for eight hours a day with someone who is not vaccinated," Christopher Messick, 41, told AP. "The people who are anti-vax, I see them as selfish."
The AP-NORC poll was conducted before the FDA granted full approval of Pfizer's vaccine.
The poll also found 71% of those working in person say they are vaccinated.
Mike Rodriguez, a maintenance worker at an auto dealership in Florida, said he got the vaccine in the spring after a diabetes diagnosis gave him a sense of urgency. But he said he leans against supporting a vaccine mandate at his job and does not mind that masks are not required.
"I don't like being told what to do. Never have," Rodriguez, 54, told AP. "I'm going to wear mine no matter what. Just like whenever I go into a store. That's my choice."
AP-NORC polled 1,729 adults Aug. 12-16 and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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