In a rather shocking or perhaps genuinely non-shocking poll, Monmouth University found that when asked, 7 in 10 Americans now says Covid is here to stay, and it’s time to get on with our lives. Not everyone agrees with the sentiment, of course, since 30% of the country disagrees, but the push for “normal” is becoming overwhelming.
Six months ago or a year ago, posing this poll question would’ve been out of bounds. It was unthinkable to imagine that some people, a large majority of people, have reached the same conclusion some of us reached back in March of 2020. This virus ain’t going away anytime soon, so best to be smart and live your life.
The partisan breakdown is as you’d expected, Democrats are less eager to “move on with life” than their Republican counterparts:
Fully 7 in 10 Americans (70%) agree with the sentiment that “it’s time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives” – including 78% of those who report having gotten Covid and 65% of those who say they have not been infected. The main difference in the sense that it is time to move on is due to partisanship – ranging from 89% of Republicans and 71% of independents to 47% of Democrats.
For some people, wallowing in Covid sorrow and fear has become an ingrained part of their daily living. They wake up, they look at their Facebook Covid news tab, check the daily case numbers in their city or county, and then apply their triple mask ensemble before walking the dog and avoiding eye contact. Those people will take time to acclimate back into society, and that’s fine, give them their time, but let the rest of us get on.
With more Americans coming to the realization that this virus can’t be vaccinated into extinction, it’s no wonder vaccination rates have hit a hardening wall:
Even though concern about getting Covid has increased, a stable proportion of the public remains opposed to vaccination. While nearly half of American adults (45%) report getting a booster shot, a significant number (37%) remain unlikely to ever do so –which includes 17% who remain opposed even to getting the initial vaccination.
“A key factor in the public’s inclination to accept having to live with Covid is the intransigence of a sizable segment of the population on vaccination. It seems unlikely that herd immunity could ever be achieved through preventative measures,” said Murray.
It’s noteworthy to point out that despite 7 in 10 Americans having a desire to move on from Covid, they don’t all fully support moving on from the hygiene theater of their protective face blankets:
The Monmouth University Poll also finds that just over half of Americans (52%) support instituting, or reinstituting, face mask and social distancing guidelines in their home state. This number is down from December (55%) and September (63%), but is the same as last July (52%) when Covid’s spread hit its lowest ebb so far.
Being as more of the public is tolerant of mandatory masking policies, but less tolerant of vaccine passports or vaccine mandates, look for politicians to split the middle and keep fighting for their mask mandates basically until eternity.
What about Biden’s handling of Covid? It’s bad, very bad:
Ratings for how both the president and federal health agencies have handled the pandemic continue to slip. Just 43% say Biden has done a good job on this while 53% say he has done a bad job – the first time his rating on this metric has been underwater since he took office.
It’s not even a question of whether he’s done a bad job, he’s done a terrible job of keeping the promises he made a year ago. His HHS secretary was hired with no medical background, and the White House Covid response has been based on press conferences with little action to back up Biden’s words.
As Biden’s Covid handling approval falls, it’s governors picking up the credit:
At the same time, ratings for state governors’ Covid handling have improved slightly (54% good job and 41% bad job, compared with 50% good and 41% bad in December). Opinion on how the American public is dealing with the pandemic remains largely negative at 29% good job and 58% bad job (similar to 27% good and 56% bad in December).
The messaging has been confusing and contradictory from the CDC and Biden White House. Since that’s been the case, there seems to be an understanding that maybe we should begin falling back to giving people the freedom to make their own decisions rather than impose bureaucratic politically-drive guidance that changes when the wind blows.
The tide is turning, you can see it happening all around. From Virginia’s gubernatorial election in November to the current trucker protests in Canada. People are tired of overbearing governments telling them what to do and how to live.
