Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, different cities and states have changed their policies regarding masking in public places and requiring proof of vaccination to enter businesses. In recent months, several states have lifted mask and vaccine mandates. A new poll asked Americans if they feel like the pandemic is over and if they feel like they moved one.
A poll released by Axios-Ipsos found that Americans are split into three groups; those who consider the COVID-19 pandemic to be over, those that feel “left behind” by their peers, and those who believe the pandemic is still happening but are “less bothered” by it.
Compared to early January (15%), during the height of the Omicron variant, an increasing share of Americans now (42%) report having already returned to their normal, pre-COVID life.
At the other end of the spectrum, 33% say they expect it will be more than a year or never before they return to their normal life.
Nearly one in three (31%) believe that the pandemic is over.
Just over one in three (35%) feel like those around them have moved on from the pandemic, but they haven’t.
The findings in the survey showed that 55 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Independents all support requiring international travelers coming into the United States to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test.
Last month, a large portion of Americans said in the survey that the pandemic was over. Axios noted this was “largely driven by partisanship.”
Nearly one in three (31%) say that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Large partisan differences exist, with 59% of Republicans, 27% of independents, and just 10% of Democrats saying the pandemic is over.
Those that are unvaccinated are more likely to say the pandemic is over (55%) than those that are vaccinated (22%).
The bulk (71%) of Americans describe the pandemic as a problem, but manageable, versus 14% that say it is a serious crisis.
“The latest wave of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index finds that one in three Americans say that COVID-19 is over, though perceptions vary drastically across party lines and by vaccination status,” the poll write-up stated. “The poll also finds that for a plurality, their top concern at the moment is spreading the virus to people who are at higher risk of serious illness, rather than something happening to them personally.”
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The Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index has been conducted every month since the onset of the pandemic.
