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A large percentage of unvaccinated workers say they would rather quit their job than get vaccinated. According to the results of a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 72% of workers said they would leave their job if they were ordered to get vaccinated. However, that number drops to 37% if the workers are offered the option to get tested for COVID-19 instead of getting the vaccine.
Those workers represent between 5% and 9% of the workforce in the United States.
Not all of the unvaccinated people who were surveyed said they would quit their jobs outright. Around 60% said they would apply for a medical or religious exemption first.
In September, President Joe Biden instructed the Department of Labor to craft a rule that requires all businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure that their workers are vaccinated or undergo weekly coronavirus testing. Many companies are waiting until the rule is finalized before they implement a vaccine mandate.
“Right now, only a quarter of workers say that their employer has required them to get a vaccine, so it’s still quite hypothetical for these workers who say they would leave their jobs,” said Lunna Lopes, a senior survey analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
According to the Centers and Disease Control and Prevention, 58% of the population is fully vaccinated.