As the coronavirus pandemic enters its second year after killing nearly 450,000 Americans, a fourth of nationwide respondents said they would get no vaccine, according to a poll released Wednesday.
In the Monmouth University Poll, only half of respondents, 50%, said they wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible, while 6% had already been vaccinated against the virus. Another 19% said they would let others go.
But 24% said they would not get a chance under any circumstances. It included 42% of the self-identified Republicans, 10% of the Democrats and 25% of the Independents.
“Reluctance to get the vaccine is more driven by bias than any single demographic factor,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “It says a lot about the depth of our partisan divisions that it can affect public health in this way.”
Even with vaccinations being vaccinated in record time, only 29% said they believe the US will return to normal this summer, while another 39% say it will last until the end of the year. Nearly a fourth, 24%, said it would take even longer, while 6% said the country would not return to normal.
President Joe Biden has so far scored high marks for his handling of the coronavirus, with 58% saying he did a good job and 23% saying he did a bad job.
And 71% said they were confident Biden could put the country on the road to recovery – including 36% of Republicans – with 28% saying they had little or no confidence in the new president. Biden proposed a $ 1.9 billion stimulus bill, including $ 1,400 direct payments for most Americans.
“A third of Republicans who express their confidence in Biden does not sound like much, but given the current environment, it might just qualify as an overwhelming duo,” Murray said.
As during the entire pandemic, the governors of the state scored high marks for their handling of the pandemic, while 57% said they did a good job and 38% did a bad job.
The poll among 809 American adults was conducted on January 21-24 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
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Jonathan D. Salant can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant.
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