While 54% of respondents in Hawaiʻi expect the COVID-19 pandemic to become worse in the next several months, only 44% plan to get a vaccine when it becomes available. That’s according to a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Public Policy Center report, based on a post-election November 2020 survey, which featured 616 respondents statewide.
The report revealed that 37% are still unsure if they will get the vaccine; the number of residents who said they will definitely get the vaccine declined by 7% since the center’s August 2020 survey. Men were more likely to say that they would definitely get the vaccine (54%) compared to women (34%); 56% of households with incomes over $150,000 said they will get a vaccine, while 28% of Hawaiʻi’s poorest households plan to receive one; and Republicans were more likely to report that they will not get the vaccine (26%) than Democrats (7%).
“It’s interesting that it’s actually declined since we asked the same question in August and I wasn’t expecting to see that,” said Colin Moore, Public Policy Center director and associate professor. “I suspect some of this has to do with a general sense of uncertainty in their confidence in the government right now.”
A majority of respondents (60%) agree that the pandemic has impacted the poor more than other groups and 47% said they feel it has increased inequality in the state. Fifty-four percent reported that they have a high level of concern with personal finances, and want to learn more about how people are adapting to economic pressures related to COVID-19, while 17% have considered returning to school for training and education.
Said Moore, “Seventeen percent is pretty big since this was a general population survey — not necessarily young people — so clearly this has caused a lot of people to think seriously about coming back to school.”
