Coronavirus and American vaccines: More than half of Americans support vaccine mandates for workplaces

Americans have grown more supportive of coronavirus vaccine mandates for workers

More than half of Americans support vaccine mandates for workplaces, classrooms and sporting events.

Americans have grown more supportive of coronavirus vaccine mandates for workers, students, and in everyday public life, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The shift comes amid renewed worries about the pandemic and a continued partisan divide over the efforts to combat it.

The public is split about evenly, 51% to 49%, on whether requiring proof of vaccination for everyday activities is an acceptable way to increase the vaccination rate, or an unacceptable infringement on personal rights.

But there's greater backing for requiring vaccines in many specific instances. 

More than half of Americans now say they support requiring vaccinations for office workers returning to the workplace (54%), students attending in-person classes (55%) and patrons attending sporting events or concerts (55%), although fewer (41%) support requiring vaccinations for a shopper to enter a grocery store.

Support for these mandates has risen across the board since April, growing 6 percentage points with regard to students, 8 points regarding office workers and event attendees, and 15 points regarding grocery shoppers.

The survey, which used a different methodology than prior polling, was conducted over a month-long period in August and September, prior to President Joe Biden's announcement of new vaccine rules. Those requirements, announced last week, could apply to nearly two-thirds of the American workforce.