Poll finds majority of Californians OK with vaccine verification, but there's a catch
A new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll has found that a majority of Californians are OK with some businesses requiring COVID-19 vaccine verification and are similarly supportive of certain job categories requiring shots for employees.
Those surveyed, however, did not reach a consensus when it comes to how involved government should be in vaccine verification.
About two-thirds (63%) of voters surveyed said they approved of allowing some types of businesses, such as concert venues, sports stadiums, casinos and cruise ships, to require that people verify they have either been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19 before they can obtain entry. Some 33% said they disapprove.
About six in 10 (61%) said they supported the idea of allowing employers to require that employees in certain job categories get vaccinated, while 33% said they were opposed.
Things became less clear-cut when it came to the government's role in verifying Americans' vaccination status.
Thirty-five percent of respondents said they favor having government assuming responsibility for establishing a uniform nationwide vaccine verification system that all Americans can use.
Thirty-two percent said they think government should play a limited role, and only ensure that the vaccine verification applications created for this purpose meet minimum standards for security, privacy and accessibility.
Twenty-five percent of voters said they believe government should not be involved at all in the vaccine verification process.
A release about the IGS poll noted that opinions were "sharply divided along partisan and ideological lines."
The IGS poll was administered online in English and Spanish between April 29 and May 5 among 10,289 California registered voters.
The results of the poll, released Tuesday, come as nearly 16 million Californians have been fully vaccinated.