COVID concerns amid new BA.5 variant
Hello from SurveyMonkey! In this week’s newsletter, Austin and Brianna are back with an exclusive deep dive on how Americans are feeling as COVID continues to surge amid a new variant, BA.5.
Amid the spread of a new variant, COVID fatigue sets in
After more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new BA.5 variant has emerged… yet many Americans have signaled that COVID fatigue has already set in according to a new SurveyMonkey poll fielded July 17-25. While many may be tired of COVID, the latest variant indicates that the pandemic may be far from over.
For most adults, the emergence of the new variant leaves some uncertain on how to process new twists amid an ongoing pandemic: 43% are neither more nor less concerned about the pandemic while slightly fewer (39%) are more concerned about the pandemic given the new variant and just 16% say they are less concerned.
In January, nearly half (48%) of adults said the emergence of the Omicron variant made them more concerned about the pandemic, much higher than the percent who are more concerned about the pandemic now (39%). Adults are nearly as concerned as they were when the BA.2 variant began spreading in March (35% were concerned about the pandemic then).
Concern is highest among adults of color: 55% of Blacks, 51% of Asians and 42% of Hispanics say the emergence of BA.5 makes them more concerned about the pandemic while just 35% of whites and 27% of adults of another race said the same.
As usual, Republicans and Democrats are divided on their reactions: 59% of Democrats say they are more concerned about the pandemic while nearly the same number of Republicans (60%) say the new variant has no impact on their concern.
But, overall, worry about the COVID-19 pandemic has dropped 11 points since January of this year (61%) and has plummeted since early April 2020 when nearly all Americans (88%) were worried about the pandemic.
Democrats, older adults drive COVID-19 concerns
Just 37% of Republicans are worried about more dangerous variants emerging if COVID-19 continues to resurge while more than two times the number of Democrats (83%) say the same. Around a third (34%) of Democrats are very worried about more dangerous variants emerging if COVID-19 continues to surge while nearly the same number of Republicans (29%) are not worried at all. Overall, 60% of Americans are concerned about more dangerous variants emerging if COVID-19 continues to spread.
Older adults, too, are more likely to be concerned: 68% of those age 65+ say they’re worried about more dangerous variants emerging if COVID-19 continues to resurge while 58% of those 18-34 and the same number of those 35-64 (58%) say the same.
COVID-19: An issue, but only for some
When asked about the resurgence of COVID-19 due to the new variant, most Americans (44%) see COVID-19 as an issue for only some, while 42% still see it as an issue for everyone, down 13 points from January when 55% of Americans said COVID-19 as an issue for everyone. Only 13% say it is not an issue at all.
Those who have heard “a lot” about the variant are most likely to say COVID-19 is an issue for everyone (60%) compared with those who have heard some (44%), not much (34%), or haven’t heard anything at all (31%)
There is a strong rift between those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and those who are not, with a quarter (26%) of unvaccinated adults saying that COVID-19 is not an issue at all while just 9% of vaccinated adults say the same.
As seen in January, Black Americans are most concerned about the pandemic with 57% saying COVID-19 is still an issue for everyone – the highest of any racial group (42% of Hispanics, 39% of whites, 39% of Asians and 40% of adults of another race say the same). Yet, while concern remains highest among Black Americans, it has plummeted 18 points from January when 74% of Blacks said COVID-19 was still an issue for everyone.
Other COVID-19 polls in the news:
The vast majority expect COVID is here for the long run: a July 2022 Axios/Ipsos poll shows that nearly eight in 10 Americans think we won't be rid of COVID-19 in our lifetimes
That’s all for this week! Thanks as always for reading.