An online survey that was emailed to more than 36,000 recipients of 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins’ e-newsletter revealed that a strong majority of respondents plan to receive a COVID-19 vaccination when it is available to them, but only a slight majority believed that vaccinations should be required for all public school students.
Hawkins sent the short, unscientific survey to constituents on Dec. 16. More than 2,200 people responded to the survey, which ended Dec. 28.
- When asked if they planned to take a COVID-19 vaccination when it is available to them, 67 percent said “yes” while 33 percent answered “no.”
- On the question of whether they believe vaccinations should be required for all public school students, 53 percent said “yes” while 47 percent responded “no.”
“Collecting feedback from the people I serve is very important to me, and I’m grateful to the 2,200 plus people who participated in my recent survey,” said Hawkins. “The COVID vaccine distribution appears to be going very well, and I’m excited for all of the medical workers, first responders, and others who are being vaccinated.
“I definitely look forward to getting vaccinated myself,” added Hawkins. “However, when it comes to developing state policy, I support individual choices. I do not believe the government should require employees to be vaccinated or force parents to vaccinate their children. The COVID vaccines are currently not approved for children yet anyway, but the policy discussions in Olympia about the COVID vaccines and other vaccines will no doubt continue into the upcoming legislative session. Between now and then, I’ll be reviewing the 86 pages of comments people provided me in response to my survey. I asked for their feedback and received a lot of it, so I’m grateful. Vaccine policy has been and will continue to be a big issue in Olympia and throughout the country.”
The 2021 legislative session begins Jan. 11 and is scheduled to last 105 days.