The unvaccinated are mostly young and non-political, a study finds. Time for pharma to switch up media outreach?

Counter to vaccine stereotyping, most of the people in the U.S. who shun the COVID-19 shot aren’t political—most don’t vote—and they’re young.

Sixty-one percent of people who won’t get the vaccine, and nearly 70% of people who are hesitant but “persuadable,” are either non-voters or have no recent history of voting, according to a new Tunnl quarterly survey of 5,000 consumers.

They’re also young. More than half (56%) of people who either refuse or are reluctant to get the vaccine are between the ages of 18 and 34.

That’s a marked departure from the conventional wisdom about people who are unvaccinated, and it says a lot about the kind of messaging and media that pharma companies and others can use to reach them, Tunnl CEO Sara Fagen said.

“The biggest thing is that this group is really not easy to reach, and the reason is that they’re not participants in the political process or watching a lot of news,” said Fagen. “So you’ve got to get around the traditional broadcast TV campaign to find them and persuade them.”

Tunnl’s research found that the group of people who are vaccine-hesitant but persuadable are 44% more likely to use WhatsApp, 40% more likely to use Tumblr, 39% more likely to use Instagram and 38% more likely to be on Reddit than the average American.

When it comes to TV media, 36% are more likely to subscribe to AppleTV, 32% more likely to stream ESPN+—and 12% less likely to watch broadcast TV.

Because the data suggests vaccine hesitancy among this group may be more about the perceived need for the shot than about politics, pharma and others might have luck with a more personal appeal, Fagen said. 

For example, ads might focus on the risk of COVID to younger adults and how getting vaccinated can safely and easily lower that risk. 

“They’re not into politics, so some of the fighting that’s been happening—they shut down over that,” Fagen said. 

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