New Survey Gathers Residents’ COVID-19 Vaccination Opinions

by Jen Aceto on December 31, 2020

Woman with vial of COVID-19 vaccine.

- By Jen Aceto -

Polco develops new survey to help communities get input from residents about COVID-19 vaccinations.

Communities around the country are entering a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery: vaccinations. Local governments must ensure that residents have the information they need about how, when, where, and why they would receive their COVID-19 vaccination.

Survey scientists at Polco have created a survey to help local leaders get critical resident input on vaccinations. Local governments can use this survey to collect data that will help them partner with the community to mitigate concerns about COVID-19 vaccination. Understanding resident concerns will allow leaders to give residents the information they need.

“Local governments may play a role in vaccination by working with other government agencies and healthcare organizations to plan for safe, efficient, and equitable distribution of the immunizations,” said Michelle Kobayashi, Polco’s Senior Vice President of Innovation.

The survey asks questions that will allow community leaders to better understand residents’ information needs, behaviors, and concerns related to COVID-19 vaccinations. It asks residents about issues such as their current plans for the vaccine, their willingness to get immunized, information about vaccine testing, and distribution of the vaccine. The survey also asks residents for their opinions about herd immunity, vaccine promotion, and the roles of federal and state governments in requiring vaccines.

“Local governments can predict when their communities might reach acceptable levels of herd immunity by assessing whether residents have been vaccinated, or how likely they are to get vaccinated,” Kobayashi said. This information is important not only for local governments but also for schools, businesses, and nonprofits as they formulate plans for COVID-19 recovery.

This survey, like the surveys in Polco’s COVID-19 Toolkit, gives residents a way to make their voices heard and allows local governments to get the input they need to make decisions. In a socially-distanced world, creative digital approaches to community engagement are more important than ever before.

“The more data that local government leaders have, the better they will be able to respond and adapt to residents’ needs in this next stage of recovery,” Kobayashi said.

Local leaders can choose to post the entire survey or select a few questions, depending on interests and engagement goals. Additionally, each question can be customized (edited) to best suit the needs of each community.

Local governments can conduct the COVID-19 Vaccination Survey of their own residents for free. Learn more.

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