Public Backs Requiring COVID-19 Vaccine to Attend School

Majorities of Americans are in favor of requiring students who are old enough to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to be vaccinated in order to attend classes in the fall. Support ranges from 51% for middle school students to 56% for high school students and 61% for college students.

The results are based on May 18-23 web interviews with more than 3,500 U.S. adults who are members of Gallup's probability-based panel.

The survey was conducted after the Food and Drug Administration on May 10 approved the Pfizer vaccine for adolescents as young as age 12. Moderna is currently seeking FDA approval for use of its vaccine on this age group. The two drugmakers are currently testing the effectiveness of their vaccines on children younger than age 12, but approval is not expected before the fall.

As such, middle school students and those at higher levels of education are able to be vaccinated before school resumes in the fall, but elementary school students probably would not be.