Confidence has increased in the federal government since President Biden took office when it comes to COVID-19 – but this is almost entirely because of Democrats’ confidence, according to the latest issue of the Axios / Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
The big picture: Americans have reported the greatest improvement in their mental and emotional health since our survey began last March, and the highest levels of confidence since April about the federal government providing them with accurate information about viruses and looking after their interests.
- The survey also found a new high point for interest in getting vaccinated, with half of respondents saying they want to take it as soon as they can.
- But only 12% said they signed up or made an appointment to receive the vaccine, and the vast majority had not yet sought information from their doctors, pharmacies, government health departments or social networks.
What they are saying: Researcher Chris Jackson, senior vice president of public relations at Ipsos, said the rising numbers are “indicative of the change in government; this is almost entirely based on trust in Biden.”
- “Biden has the opportunity to get people into this,” said Jackson of the vaccine. “But he will have to do that, it will not just happen. People are kind of waiting to be told to get the vaccine. ”
- Respondents were relatively confident (62%) in the Biden administration’s ability to make the vaccine widely available, but divided (52%) over whether the new government could revive the economy quickly.
- Jackson said this suggests that the public may be less patient with Biden who seeks policies now that they are not directly linked to dealing with the virus.
Between the lines: Republicans’ confidence in the federal government was flat or slightly lower than in our January 8-11 survey, the last time we asked the question. The independents’ confidence was flat or slightly higher.
- What is really driving confidence gains is the Democrats’ deep distrust of former President Donald Trump – and how much they trust Biden. This translates into gains of 25 and 30 percentage points in just two weeks.
- It is important to note that Republicans are not abandoning confidence in proportion to the Democrats’ confidence gain.
- 58% of respondents generally say they trust Biden to provide accurate information, compared to the 27% who trust Trump.
By the numbers: Overall, 50% of Americans now claim to have a large or reasonable amount of trust in the federal government to provide accurate information about the virus, while 50% have little or no confidence.
- This is the highest number since our April 3 to 6 poll of 2020. This compares to a 40% trust versus 60% mistrust when we last asked this question, two weeks ago, in the last days of the government Trump.
- More than seven out of 10 Democrats (72%) trust the information now, up from 42% two weeks ago.
- 48% of independents trust information, against 44%.
- Republican confidence is in the hole: only 30% trust information now, compared to 34%.
Asked if the government is looking out for his family’s best interests, 43% of respondents now say yes, while 57% say no.
- There is nothing to be proud of, but it is an improvement over the 36% -63% split two weeks earlier – and the highest confidence numbers since the April 24-27 poll.
Methodology: This Axios / Ipsos Survey was conducted from January 22 to 25 by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel®. This survey is based on a nationally representative probabilistic sample of 1,112 adults from the general population aged 18 and over.
- The sampling error margin is ± 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire adult sample.