COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Survey

It is now August 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta variant is still surging in portions of the United States and across the world. This is a result of families traveling for the holidays and cold weather forcing more people inside. Because of this, parts of the United States have been on various forms of lockdown and quarantine for nine months. It seems for the first time that there might be a little light at the end of the tunnel as the COVID-19 vaccine distribution begins to accelerate. Millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine have already been given to citizens. And, the incoming Biden administration promises to release nearly all available vaccine doses immediately.

As the COVID-19 vaccine continues to rollout, we conducted our COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Survey. Our goal was to see how the vaccine may change people’s sentiment regarding travel. We also sought to understand how people viewed the vaccine as well as questioning their privacy concerns for tracking vaccine recipients. Please read below for the results of our survey.

If required for travel, would you agree to a COVID-19 Vaccine Passport or App so airlines and border authorities can check your vaccination status and COVID-19 test results?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes — 73.65%
• No — 26.35%

Interesting Demographic Comparison— Men are almost 8% more likely than women to agree to a COVID-19 Vaccine Passport. Our survey indicated that 77.73% of males are willing to agree to a Vaccine Passport while only 69.96% of women were.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 74% of people would agree to some form of COVID-19 Vaccine Passport. Based on the current census, the 74% figure represents nearly 188 million Americans aged 18 or older. Three out of every four people would agree to documentation telling airlines and authorities their vaccine status and test results. In an era of privacy concerns, this is an astoundingly high percentage.

Do you trust the COVID-19 vaccine enough to travel to high risk COVID-19 areas?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes — 43.85%
• No — 56.15%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Survey respondents living in the Pacific region which includes the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and Hawaii trust the vaccine significantly more than any other region. Of those surveyed from the Pacific, 58.14% said they trust the COVID-19 vaccine enough to travel to high risk areas. This fact makes the Pacific region the only region to have a majority of people trust the vaccine. Conversely, the East South Central region which contains the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi is the most weary of the vaccine. In this region, only 26.09% of people say they trust it.

Key Takeaway — More than 56% of survey respondents do not trust the COVID-19 vaccine enough to travel to high risk COVID-19 areas. This figure represents over 143 million Americans and more than half of the population 18 or older. Data from this question implies that the majority of people in the United States feel the vaccine will not be successful.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, when will you feel comfortable traveling again?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• I am comfortable traveling right now. — 28.46%
• When I get the vaccine. — 23.85%
• When enough of the general population gets the vaccine. — 31.54%
• I will not travel again until society returns to pre COVID-19 life. — 16.15%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Men are over 7% more likely than women to say they are comfortable with traveling right now. In addition, men are 5% less likely to say they won’t travel until society returns to pre COVID-19 life.

Key Takeaway — Almost 72% of the population say they will not feel comfortable traveling again until they have received the vaccine, enough of the population is vaccinated or herd immunity is achieved. The 72% represents over 182 million people! This figure takes into account the 23.85% of people that said they won’t feel comfortable traveling until they get the vaccine. It also includes the 31.54% that said they won’t feel comfortable traveling again until enough of the general population gets the vaccine and the 16.15% of people that said they won’t travel again until society returns to pre COVID-19 life.

Will you take a COVID-19 vaccine if it is required to do any of the following? (Check All that Apply Except If You Are Checking the Last Choice.)

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Fly on a Plane. — 63.08%
• Stay in a Hotel. — 55.96%
• Visit a Specific U.S. State. — 56.73%
• Enter a Foreign Country. — 51.54%
• I will not take the COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstances. (If checking this choice, check nothing else.) — 21.35%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Americans surveyed in the over 60 age group are the most likely people to agree to a vaccine requirement. In addition, they are the least likely to say they will not take it under any circumstances. Only 14.47% of people over 60 said they would not take the vaccine under any circumstances. However, 76.32% said they’d take it to fly on a plane. 63.16% would take it to stay in a hotel. 69.74% would take it to visit a specific U.S. state. And lastly, 56.58% would take it to enter a foreign country.

Key Takeaway — 21.35% of those surveyed said they will not take the COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstances. This means more than 54 million Americans age 18 or older have no intentions of taking the vaccine for any reason.

Would you feel safe traveling without a vaccination to an international destination that requires proof of a negative COVID-19 Test?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes — 40.58%
• No — 59.42%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Increasing age of survey respondents correlates directly with feeling less safe traveling internationally without a vaccine. This is even if the country requires a negative COVID-19 test. The fact is evident by the data which shows 57.14% of those between the ages of 18-29 feel safe. 46.56% of people between the ages of 30-44 feel safe. 37.11% of people between the ages of 45-60 feel safe. And finally, only 13.16% of people over 60 feel safe.

Key Takeaway — 59.42% of people do not feel safe traveling without a vaccination to an international destination that requires proof of negative COVID-19 test. This means that almost 152 million Americans aged 18 or older do not feel safe traveling to a foreign country even if that country is requiring negative COVID-19 tests in order to enter. If you are one of the 40.58% that does feel safe traveling internationally without a vaccine and needs a COVID-19 test, check out our Airports Offering COVID-19 Testing list.

Survey Methodology

This COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 520 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on January 9. Of the individuals surveyed, 47.50% were male and 52.50% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey were 22.88% in the range 18-29, 25.19% in the range 30-44, 37.31% in the range 45-60 and 14.62% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±4.385%. You can learn more about SurveyMonkey’s sampling method by clicking here.

The questions were chosen and the results were analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey.

Featured Image via Pixabay