Do you accept life with COVID-19 as the new normal?
Most Americans think it’s time to, according to a new poll, as 2022 marks another year dealing with the virus’s spread and its potential to mutate into new variants such as delta and omicron.
Specifically, 70% of Americans agree that “it’s time we accept that COVID is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives,” according to a new poll released Jan. 31 by Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Answers varied along partisan lines. While 89% of Republicans say they agree with the statement, 71% of independents and 47% of Democrats say the same, the poll found.
“Americans’ worries about COVID haven’t gone away,” Patrick Murray, the director of the institute, said in a statement. “It seems more to be a realization that we are not going to get this virus under control in a way that we thought was possible just last year.”
Some poll participants — 28% — “believe a return to normalcy will never happen,” according to the survey, in comparison to 34% of Americans who believe “the country will get the outbreak under control and return to normal by the end of the year.”
The poll comes after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said officials are aiming for “sufficient control” over the virus during a Jan. 26 White House press conference.
“Not necessarily elimination, like we’ve done with polio and with measles by mass vaccination campaigns, but a level of control that does not disrupt us in society, does not dominate our lives, does not prevent us to do the things that we generally do under normal existence,” Fauci said.
Concerns over COVID-19
Meanwhile, half of the country is worried about being infected with a new coronavirus variant such as omicron, with 23% who are “very” concerned and 27% who are “somewhat” concerned, the poll showed.
The omicron variant made up an estimated 99.9% of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. for the week ending Jan. 29, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, as the delta variant made up .1%.
More Americans surveyed — 38% — are ”very” worried about a family member getting severely sick from COVID-19 than were ”very” worried in December when 30% of those polled reported the concern.
“Even though concern about getting COVID has increased, a stable proportion of the public remains opposed to vaccination,” the polling institute wrote.
Almost half of U.S. adults — 45% — say they’ve gotten a booster shot as 37% said it’s unlikely they will get one, according to the poll. Of the 37%, 17% reported they oppose vaccination against the virus entirely.
Because of this, Murray said “it seems unlikely that herd immunity could ever be achieved through preventative measures.”
Public opinion on officials’ handling of the pandemic
Additionally, the poll revealed public opinion on how President Joe Biden and federal health agencies have dealt with the spread of COVID-19.
There’s a split between beliefs on Biden’s handling of the pandemic, with 43% reporting Biden “has done a good job” and 53% answering he “has done a bad job,” according to the survey.
For federal health agencies, there’s an almost even split, with 46% of Americans believing they’ve handled the pandemic well and 47% answering that agencies have handled it badly.
“We still see public support for maintaining some degree of public safety around COVID,” Murray said. “However, there appears to be an acknowledgment that federal measures have not been effective, or at least have failed to be widely accepted.”
Meanwhile, 52% of respondents support enforcing and reinforcing mask mandates and social distancing in the state they reside in, according to the survey. In regards to mandating vaccine proof, 43% of Americans support it.
The university’s poll was conducted Jan. 20-24 via telephone with 794 adult participants and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Other key findings from the poll
•40% of Americans said they’ve had COVID-19 or believe they’ve been infected with it.
•27% said they’ve received a COVID-19 positive test.
•36% of vaccinated participants said they’ve been infected with the virus.
•61% of unvaccinated participants said they’ve been infected with the virus.
•54% of those surveyed believe state governors have done well at handling the pandemic compared to 41% who believe otherwise.
•29% of those surveyed believe the American public is dealing with the virus well compared to 58% who believe the public is dealing with it badly.
“We continue to move toward a time when COVID won’t disrupt our daily lives — a time when COVID is no longer a crisis, but rather something we protect against and treat,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said during the Jan. 26 briefing.
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