Americans are ending friendships over COVID-19 vaccination status, according to a new poll.
Of those who have ended a friendship during the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 66% are vaccinated and 17% do not plan to receive the vaccine, per a recent survey of 1,000 participants.
Overall, 16% of respondents have cut three friends from their lives since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to pollsters with OnePoll Research, a marketing research company, which conducted the survey on Sept. 2.
Of the vaccinated people polled, 14% said they ended a relationship because a friend did not want to get the COVID-19 vaccination. And, of those who called it quits with a pal, 17% are unvaccinated.
Pollsters said a vast majority of vaccinated people, about 97%, consider their former friends to be “full-blown anti-vaxxers” and said they could never get them to understand the importance of the vaccine.
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The questionnaire asked unvaccinated people why they have not received the vaccine too. Many of them said it was a personal choice, because they are worried about potential side effects.
Another reason many of the respondents cut ties with a buddy during the pandemic: different political views.