Poll: Pandemic Worry Higher than ‘Before COVID-19 Vaccines Were Readily Available’

Pandemic worry is the “highest it has been since last winter, before COVID-19 vaccines were readily available to the general public,” according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.

Out of 1,569 U.S. adults polled between January 13-14, 50 percent are worried about contracting coronavirus, up 12 points from Gallup’s last reading in late November and early December. The trend coincides with a spike in omicron variant infections and is similar to last July, when survey respondents’ worry increased as the delta variant spread.

“The hopefulness Americans felt last spring after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines was first dashed over the summer by the delta variant, then recovered briefly as cases subsided, and is now being crushed by omicron,” according to the survey, which has a margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Along party lines, worry about catching coronavirus among Democrats, independents, and people who are vaccinated has “risen by double digits.” Worry among Republicans and unvaccinated adults has increased as well, though they reportedly “remain among the least worried about infection.” – READ MORE