Some Unvaccinated Americans Blame Fully Vaccinated People For COVID-19 Surge: Poll

Some unvaccinated Americans blame vaccinated individuals for the surge of Delta COVID-19 cases in the country than blame themselves, a new poll found.

In a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, it was found that 6% of unvaccinated Americans said they were responsible for the rise in COVID-19 cases in the United States. However, 7% say vaccinated Americans should be blamed the most for the spread.

The poll also asked its participants “how much” blame they believe each group deserves. Only 9% of unvaccinated Americans say they deserve a “great deal of blame.” However, 15% said individuals who have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus deserve a great deal of blame.

Overall, 29% of the poll’s 1,649 participants said unvaccinated Americans deserve the most blame for the recent surge of COVID-19 cases, 25% cited Americans who refused to wear masks, 18% blamed people who spread COVID-19 misinformation on online platforms and 14% blamed the Biden administration.

The poll comes after data on COVID-19 cases and deaths showed that 9 in 10 of the country’s new infections, hospitalizations, and deaths involve the unvaccinated, according to an analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Coronavirus-related deaths are on the rise in 42 U.S. states, with the country reporting 5,472 fatalities in the week ending Wednesday. In the first 18 days of August, 10,991 Americans died of COVID-19. The figures have surpassed the total number of deaths recorded in June or July, according to USA Today.

The country’s new daily caseload also surpassed 150,000 Wednesday, with health officials reporting 162,724 new infections. The latest figures bring the country’s seven-day average to 140,893 cases, according to a New York Times analysis.

So far, the U.S. has reported 37,291,739 COVID-19 cases and 625,153 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Hospitalizations in parts of the South, including Mississippi and Florida, have also shattered records since winter and overwhelmed the states’ intensive care units amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

The U.S. government continues to urge Americans ages 12 and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to prevent severe or critical cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. However, only 60.2% of the total population has received at least one dose, and only 51.1% are fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.