Young people demand vaccination requirements for reopening
14 May 2021
Three-quarters of people between 18-29 say vaccination should be required to return to campus or work, according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling, and 37% would refuse to come back unless those conditions are in place.
Why it matters: Young workers have put pressure on CEOs to take action on social and political issues and have plenty of capital to exert it on reopening policy.
The polling suggests that a "get the shot" ultimatum could be pretty effective.
- Among the young people polled who aren't vaccinated, 66% said that if it was required to return to campus or work, they would get the vaccine.
- 15% would try to switch jobs or schools, while 13% would refuse to get the vaccine and still try to work or attend school.
- 2% said they would forge proof.
The big picture: 18-29 year-olds are the least vaccinated adult age group relative to their population size, though they've also been eligible for a shorter period of time.
- People between 18-29 face less risk of severe infection from COVID-19, compared to older adults.
Between the lines: With 1 in 4 workers planning to look for new jobs after the pandemic, companies will feel pressured to adhere to the preferences of workers.
- Those of young workers who have more flexibility to relocate or endure short-term unemployment could carry more weight.
By the numbers: 14% say they definitely would refuse to return to work or school without vaccine requirements, while 23% say they probably would refuse.
- Just 25% say they definitely wouldn't refuse.
What they're saying: "I live in a very red area and a lot of people are not getting vaccinated," one respondent said. "So I know if I were to return to campus, and vaccinations were not mandatory that 90% of people would not be vaccinated. So that means our campus would have an outbreak again."
Methodology: This study was conducted from May 5-8 from a nationally representative sample of 928 respondents 18-29-year-old respondents. The margin of error is +/- 3.4 percentage points. The Generation Lab conducts polling using a demographically representative sample frame of young people around the country, across educational, racial, political, geographic, gender and economic backgrounds.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.