As the coronavirus pandemic enters its second year, killing almost 450,000 Americans, a quarter of adults surveyed across the country said they will not receive the vaccine, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
In the Monmouth University Survey, only half of the respondents, 50%, said they would like to be vaccinated as soon as possible, while 6% have already been vaccinated against the virus. Another 19% said they would let others go in front of them.
But 24% said they would not have a chance under any circumstances. This included 42% of Republicans who call themselves, 10% of Democrats and 25% of independents.
“The reluctance to get the vaccine is motivated more by partisanship than by any single demographic factor,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “It says a lot about the depth of our party division that it could impact public health like this.”
Even with vaccines being launched in record time, only 29% said they thought the US would return to normal this summer, with another 39% saying it would take until the end of the year. Almost a quarter, 24%, said it would take even longer than that, while 6% said the municipality would not return to normal.
President Joe Biden has received high marks for his treatment of the coronavirus so far, with 58% saying he did a good job and 23% saying he did a bad job.
And 71% said they were confident that 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 trillion stimulus project, including $ 1,400 in direct payments for most Americans.
“A third of Republicans expressing confidence in Biden does not seem like much, but given the current environment, it can qualify as overwhelming bipartisanship,” said Murray.
As they did throughout the pandemic, state governors received high marks for treating the pandemic, with 57% saying they did a good job and 38% saying they did a bad job.
The survey of 809 adults in the United States was conducted from January 21 to 24 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
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Jonathan D. Salant can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant.
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