As state health officials mount a push for coronavirus vaccine boosters in Maryland, a poll found that an overwhelming majority of residents in the highly vaccinated state said they are likely to get one as soon as they are eligible.

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       The Goucher College poll, which was released Wednesday, found that 83 percent of vaccinated Marylanders said they probably will get a booster shot, while 15 percent said they are not likely to.

       The poll follows an announcement by state officials earlier this week that they are “strongly encouraging” vaccinated residents, particularly those with underlying conditions, to get a booster as soon as possible.

       On Monday, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said that vaccinated people in Maryland make up about 30 percent of covid-19 deaths. He said those deaths were mostly linked to waning immunity among people with underlying health conditions, including diabetes and hypertension. That is why, he said, it is important for people to get a booster as soon as possible.

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       Hogan said anyone who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and is 65 and older or those 18 and older with an underlying health condition or who live or work in a high-risk setting is eligible to get a booster six months after their second dose. If a resident received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he or she can receive a booster shot two months after getting vaccinated, regardless of age or occupation.

       As of Tuesday, the state has administered nearly 292,000 boosters.

       Mileah Kromer, associate professor of political science and the director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, said state officials should be heartened by the poll findings in their effort to fight the coronavirus.

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       “It’s a good thing for the public health community because there is not a lot of resistance,” she said. “Marylanders are, by and large, still concerned about covid. They have a high vaccination rate, and those who are vaccinated want to get the booster.”

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       The poll found that two-thirds of Maryland residents who are vaccinated said they have limited the time they have spent with friends, family and others who are not vaccinated. Thirty percent said they have not limited their interactions.

       The findings about the boosters were relatively similar among both White and Black Marylanders and across regions in the state, but there was some difference based on political ideology.

       According to the poll, about 1 in 3 people who identify as conservative said they are unlikely to get a booster. Fourteen percent of moderates said they are unlikely to get an additional shot, while only 2 percent of those who identified as progressive said they are unlikely to get a booster.

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       There were also ideological differences related to the actions of vaccinated people.

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       The poll found that 55 percent of conservatives who have gotten vaccinated said they have not limited their interactions with unvaccinated friends and family, while 27 percent of moderates and 17 percent of progressives said they have not limited their interactions.

       Maryland residents have wide-ranging expectations on when they think the country will get the coronavirus under control and be able to “return to normal.”

       Five percent said things are already back to normal, while 2 in 10 said they will be normal within the next six months.Nearly 3 in 10, 28 percent, said things will be normal in the next year, another 29 percent said a year or more, and 16 percent think things never will return to normal.

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       “As a pollster, I wonder what normal looks like for people,” Kromer said. “What do the 16 percent think who think we never will return to normal?”

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       The poll surveyed 700 Maryland adults from Oct. 14 to 20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

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