Three in four at least partially vaccinated Americans say they want COVID-19 booster: poll

More than three-fourths of Americans who have been at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus say they want a booster shot, according to a new poll.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between Aug. 27 and Aug. 30 found that 76 percent of respondents who were partially or fully vaccinated wanted a third COVID-19 shot. Another 18 percent of the group were undecided while 6 percent said they did not want a booster.

Nearly 43 percent of those who said they wanted a booster cited delta variant concerns, and 34 percent cited age as a reason.

Some scientists and health officials have questioned the need for a COVID-19 booster after the Biden administration signaled that the U.S. would begin rolling out booster shots to most Americans pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Some members from the CDC advisory panel have already signaled that more evidence would be needed to offer a recommendation on COVID-19 booster shots. 

The international community has also raised concerns about countries such as the U.S. and Israel rolling out booster shot programs when some lower-income one may still be waiting on their first COVID-19 vaccine doses. 

In August, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on coronavirus boosters until at least the end of September.

“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the delta variant. but we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,” Tedros said. 

Roughly 72 percent of people aged 12 years and older in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 61.5 percent are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 4,427 adults, with the results weighted using current vaccination and population stats. Its credibility interval is 2 percentage points.