Americans’ fear of COVID-19 has dropped to a record low in the latest Gallup poll conducted in March, while satisfaction with the ongoing vaccine rollout has jumped dramatically.
Just more than one-third of American adults say they are somewhat or very worried about contracting COVID-19. That’s down from about half in February.
- 35% in March were somewhat or very worried.
- 49% in February were somewhat or very worried.
Older Americans are least likely to fear contracting the virus, which Gallup notes “may be tied to the increase in the percentage of Americans who are fully vaccinated.”
It adds later, “Naturally, being vaccinated is associated with lower levels of worry about contracting COVID-19, but this only applies to those who are fully vaccinated. Among those Americans who report having received the full course of the vaccine, 21% are worried about catching COVID-19. But the rate among those only partially vaccinated [defined as receiving only one dose of a two-dose vaccine] is 37%, similar to the national average.”
Americans who want to get the vaccine but have not been able to yet are the most concerned about catching COVID-19 at 49%, while those who have no plans of getting vaccinated are the least worried at 19%.
Gallup notes that Americans’ views of the Covid-19 situation are growing more optimistic.
- 77% in March said that the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is improving.
- 60% in February said that the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is improving.
- 33% in January said that the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is improving.
While Democrats are the most optimistic, with 84% saying that the situation is getting better, Republicans also see brighter prospects ahead, with 75% saying the situation is improving, followed by independents at 69%.
Most Americans, 64%, continue to say the pandemic has disrupted their lives either a great deal or a fair amount, though this has dropped slightly from 70% in February.
“Americans have become substantially less worried about contracting COVID-19 as a growing proportion of adults have been fully vaccinated and as satisfaction with the vaccine rollout has improved,” Gallup concludes. “These shifts have occurred while coronavirus infection rates have fallen substantially from highs reached in January of this year. Optimism about the COVID-19 situation has also spiked to a record high. Gallup previously observed a meaningful relationship between Americans’ perceptions of the coronavirus situation and changes in reported numbers of daily new cases.”
Gallup polled 3,905 adults across the country from March 15-21, 2021 with a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.
Source: Newmax
