Greenville Leader

A new poll revealed that most Americans oppose the public shaming of people who have opted out of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The 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 do not agree with public figures shaming those who have not received a COVID vaccine and do not believe that this shaming is an effective way to increase vaccination rates. Nearly 60% (59.8%) of respondents disapproved of 'vaccine shaming' and only 23.7% approved.

In a U.S. News op ed piece, a pro-vaccine doctor voiced his opinion on how forcing a vaccine can be counterproductive.

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

While the 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). The disapproval rate was 61.4% for third-party and independent respondents.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reports that 52.1% of South Carolina residents have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, with 45% being fully vaccinated. This amounts to 1.9 million fully vaccinated people.

"While vaccine requirements for health care workers make sense, we would never extend those requirements outside of health care for, say, the flu shot," Makary wrote in 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.