How worn out are people in US with COVID changes to their lives? What a poll found
A new poll found many Americans have felt worn out or angry over pandemic-related changes to their lives.
The Monmouth University poll released Wednesday, Dec. 15, found that a majority of respondents have felt worn out with these changes over the past 20 months while many have felt angry. The poll also found that many remain concerned about the coronavirus but that some said they are unlikely to get a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot.
The poll was conducted Dec. 2-8 and included 808 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. It comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in the United States and amid concerns about the omicron coronavirus variant.
Americans worn out by COVID-19
The poll found that 60% of respondents have felt worn out over the coronavirus pandemic.
When asked to “think of the last 20 months of the pandemic and any changes you have had to make to your daily life,” 36% answered that they have felt worn out a lot while 24% answered that they have felt worn out a little. An additional 39% said they have not felt worn out.
Fewer respondents reported feeling angry over the pandemic and the changes to their lives.
Twenty-four percent said they have felt angry a lot and 21% said they have felt angry a little. Meanwhile, 55% said they don’t ever feel angry about it, the poll found.
“Looking at both feelings simultaneously, just over one-third (36%) of the country reports being both worn out and angry,” Monmouth said. “Another 25% feels worn out but not angry and 9% feels angry but not worn out, while 30% say they don’t feel either way about COVID-driven changes to their daily lives.”
Republican respondents were more likely than Democratic respondents to report feeling angry, 63% compared with 34%, but weren’t significantly more likely to report feeling worn out, 64% compared to 63%. Additionally, respondents under age 55 were more likely than those 55 and older to reporting feeling either or both emotion: 74% compared with 63%.
“The fact that Americans say they have had enough should be no surprise,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a news release. “Every time we try to adjust to a new normal, another variant pops up to put us on guard again. This perpetual unease is having an impact on how we view those charged with handling the pandemic.”
Vaccinations and COVID-19 concerns
The poll found 60% of respondents were either very or somewhat concerned about someone in their family “becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus outbreak.” That’s down slightly from 61% in November and 69% in September but still up from 53% and 42% in July and June, respectively.
These concerns and the number of respondents reporting feeling worn out or angry over the pandemic comes during worries about the new omicron variant, as cases are on the rise and as the highly contagious delta variant remains the dominant variant in the country.
Much is still to be learned about the omicron variant, but early research suggests it may be more contagious and capable of evading vaccines, McClatchy News has reported. The first confirmed U.S. case was reported Dec. 1 in a fully vaccinated California resident who recently returned from South Africa.
As of Dec. 10, the CDC said omicron “accounts for less than 0.1% of variants circulating in the United States.”
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel has said there’s a chance the company’s COVID-19 vaccine could lose some of its effectiveness against the omicron variant.
Data has also suggested that people who have received only two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine saw a reduction in antibody levels against the variant but that the booster shot may help protect against the variant.
CDC data shows that as of Dec. 15, 61.1% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and that 27.6% of fully vaccinated people have also received a booster shot. Everyone 16 years of age and older is eligible for a booster shot after a certain amount of time following their initial vaccination series.
The poll found that 16% of respondents are either not at all or not too likely to get a booster shot, down from 17% in November but up from 15% in September.
An additional 14% said they are unlikely to ever get a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to say they will likely never get the vaccine, 30% compared with 2%.
Public health officials have continuously said that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect against COVID-19.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 7:58 AM with the headline "How worn out are people in US with COVID changes to their lives? What a poll found."
