Ph.D.s actually the most hesitant to get COVID-19 vaccines compared to all other education levels, study finds

The left — particularly those who exude that distinctive "elite" air — have been growing more and more smug about their level of intelligence, sophistication, and adherence to following "the science" when it comes to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

In short, they say, Republicans, residents of flyover country, fans for former President Donald Trump, evangelical Christians, and those with lower education levels are ruining things for the rest of America because they're the least likely to get the shots.

Oops

Well, the results of a recent study on vaccine hesitancy conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh just might toss some cold water on the left-wing elites' assumptions.

While the study hasn't been peer-reviewed, it did review survey data from over 5 million adults — and it found that when measuring vaccine hesitancy according to education level, those with Ph.D.s were the most hesitant to get the shots by the end of the survey period, which lasted from January to May.

In fact, while every other education-level group grew less hesitant over time, those with Ph.D.s never wavered in their hesitancy — and were at the top of the heap when it came to thinking twice about getting the shot by the end of the survey period.

Breaking it down further

In January, the top-three education levels from most hesitant to least hesitant were:

1. High school or less
2. Some college
3. Ph.D.

By May, the top three education levels from most hesitant to least hesitant were:

1. Ph.D.
2. High school or less
3. Some college

The least hesitant group from start to finish represented study participants with master's degrees.

"To our knowledge, no other study has evaluated education with this level of granularity, which was possible due to our unusually large sample size (>10,000 participants with PhDs)," the study said. "Further investigation into hesitancy among those with a PhD is warranted."

WebMD agreed the findings in regard to Ph.D.s was an "eye-opener." The outlet broke down other findings from the study, including:

• About 50% of people in all categories of hesitancy were concerned about side effects.
• Those who said they would ''definitely not" get a vaccine were more likely to say they didn't trust the vaccine or didn't trust the government.
• Those who said a lack of trust was a reason they haven't been vaccinated only appeared to have doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine, not those for other diseases.
• Many said they were hesitant because they wanted to wait ''to see if it's safe" or they were waiting on ''full" FDA approval, beyond the emergency use authorization the FDA has given the vaccines so far.