Santa Clara County Optimistic About Pandemic's Direction: Survey

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A recent survey of Santa Clara County residents found that optimism about the pandemic’s direction has rebounded since the winter and a majority believe that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and should be required before high-risk activities like attending concerts, flying and working indoors with others.

The survey of 1,000 residents was conducted by EMC Research between April 15 and 22, a few days after the county opened up eligibility for vaccines to everyone ages 16 and up, as well as the pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The results were presented at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.

Around 75 percent of respondents had been vaccinated, which tracks with the county's actual mark of 71 percent as of Wednesday. Seventy-seven percent believed that the pandemic is getting better, a 62-percentage point swing compared to January, the last time a similar survey was conducted.

In fact, homelessness (24 percent) eclipsed COVID-19 (20 percent) as the top answer when residents were asked an open-ended question about the most important problem in Santa Clara County.

Concerns over being infected were down compared to the responses in January, when the county was going through its worst surge. Nearly 1 in 4 respondents said they had dined at a restaurant in the last seven days. That figure was at 4 percent in the January survey.

The survey offered some perspective into the quarter of respondents who haven’t been vaccinated. Roughly 1 in 10 respondents, deemed “vaccine resistant,” will either only get vaccinated if required or never take the vaccine. The survey found that those who identified as Latino or Republican, along with younger men, were less likely to have been vaccinated or want the vaccine. Nearly a quarter of Republican respondents were vaccine resistant, compared to 4 percent of Democrats.

Of those who plan to wait before getting the vaccine, nearly half were concerned about side effects and safety, and 1 in 5 believed not enough research had been conducted.

That same ratio — nearly 20 percent — also thought falsely that the COVID-19 vaccine can give people the virus.

“There’s certainly a lot more information that we need to provide to the public to ensure that false fact is not out there,” County Supervisor Otto Lee said in response to that data point.

EMC Research also found that vaccinated people reported they were wearing masks more often compared to unvaccinated people.

County officials plan to attempt to reach unvaccinated and workers with mobile clinics, canvassing, and targeted phone banking and texting. Outreach workers are trained to respond to vaccine misinformation. Levi's Stadium will host student nights from May 11 through 13, and the county recently gave free boba and cookies at a vaccine clinic at a San Jose high school. The county also said it plans to reach the male demographic through a sports advertising package of TV, digital and radio ads next week.

A majority of respondents still believed activities like indoor gatherings, eating indoors at a restaurant, traveling on a plane and using public transit were unsafe, though opinions on the safety of going to school and working in an office were mixed. While more residents perceived such activities as safer in April compared to January, the responses indicate that it may take time for the public to readjust to pre-pandemic norms even as restrictions are lifted.