Reluctant Americans about vaccines dismiss the risks of delta variants, ask questions to restore the epidemic

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Reluctant Americans about vaccines overwhelmingly dismiss the reported risks of the delta variant of the coronavirus, raising questions about the nation’s July 4 pandemic recovery, and the Biden administration marked a turning point in the country’s long public health ordeal.

Three out of 10 adults in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll said they haven’t had a coronavirus vaccine and certainly or may not. In this group, 73% say U.S. officials broadly overstate the risk of variable delta — and 79% believe they have little or no risk of contracting the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden, health officials and others have described the variant as more contagious than other strains, and therefore a significant risk to unvaccinated people. It now accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s new cases.

See the PDF for full results, charts, and tables.

But the government’s plan to tackle it through vaccinations appears to have hit a wall. Only 60% in this survey, produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, reported having received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. While this is lower than the official estimate (66.8%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), it underscores the failure to meet Biden’s goal of getting 70% with at least one dose by July 4. – 74%, up from 55% in April – say they may or certainly won’t get a chance.

Partisan divisions are sharp, confirming the politicization of the pandemic: overall only 45% believe the government accurately describes the risks of the delta variable; 35% say he’s exaggerating, and 18% aren’t sure. Several groups are particularly likely to say it is exaggerated, including Republicans (57%), conservatives (55%), evangelical white Protestants (49%), and rural residents (47%).

Even as things turn out, the exit from the pandemic is far from complete. After more than 15 months of taking control of the nation, only 16% of Americans said their community had fully recovered. Nor is the future assured: while 56% believe the country has learned lessons that will help it through the next pandemic, only 18% are very confident.

Biden

For his part, Biden has broad approval, 62%, for dealing with the pandemic (including a third of Republicans) — but that’s not enough to keep him stuck. Only 50% of Americans approve of his job performance overall, a relatively poor score close to six months in office.

Among the challenges Biden faces are poor ratings on crime and immigration status on the southern border, as well as the hyper-partisanship that characterizes today’s politics.

His job acceptance rate of 50%-42% is the fourth lowest of the last 14 presidents in about five months in office in surveys previously conducted by ABC, Post and Gallup. Biden is only ahead of Gerald Ford (after the unpopular pardon of Richard Nixon, among other challenges), Bill Clinton (with a faltering economy and a volatile start to his presidency) and Donald Trump (who never won majority approval). It’s an unusually low rating at a time of strong economic growth.

Biden’s approval rates drop to 38% on crime – as reported Friday – and 33% on immigration status at the border with Mexico. In partisan terms, 88% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party approve of his job performance overall. 81% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents oppose it.

Only among party followers — excluding independents — Biden had 94% of support in his party versus 8% of Republicans, a difference of 86 party points. This has grown steadily from Clinton’s presidency forward, indicative of growing partisan divisions over the past three decades.

Biden’s acceptance rating is similar to his in an ABC/Post poll in April, 52%. There are some shifts between groups—a 16-point drop in support among Hispanics, a 12-point drop in the Midwest (where this poll found more Republicans and a smaller Republican Party) and a 7-point drop among liberals. Other minor shifts largely offset these.

pandemic

Additional findings show how partisanship has infected epidemiological attitudes and behaviour. 93 percent of Democrats say they have either been vaccinated, certainly have or probably will; That drops to 49% of Republicans. Independents are between the two at 65%.

Vaccine frequency also stands out among Republican-leaning groups, such as conservatives, white evangelical Protestants, and less educated adults. And while Republicans are less likely to get an injection, only 24% see themselves as at risk of infection.

As the table below shows, many groups who hesitate to receive the vaccine, meanwhile, are no more willing to see themselves at high risk of infection, and more likely than others to see variable delta risk as exaggerated.

The survey also shows that black adults, at 79%, are more willing than others to say either they’ve had a chance or they will; It’s 68% among whites and 70% among Hispanics. This is a positive sign after a higher vaccination frequency among blacks.

Another outcome of the pandemic indicates the prevalence of COVID-19 in the United States. Eleven percent reported having tested positive for it; Another 12% believed they had it but were never tested. The net total is 23%, significantly higher among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 31%. Of the people who said they had never had it, 72% had been vaccinated or were likely to do so; Among those who know or believe they have had it, this percentage drops to 60%.

vote

Finally, on an unrelated topic, Thursday’s Supreme Court decision shows a contrast between public attitudes about voting access and the court endorsing restrictions in Arizona law. Americans, by a margin of 2-1, 62%-30%, consider it more important to pass new laws that make it easier to vote legally than to make laws that make it difficult to vote fraudulently.

There are sharp partisan and ideological differences. 89% of Democrats prioritize making it easier to vote legally, as do 62% of independents, dropping to 32% of Republicans. (However, this means that a third of Republicans hold this view, which is inconsistent with the National Party’s focus on the issue.) Similarly, 86% of liberals and 70% of moderates prioritized expanding the legal vote, compared to 40%. of conservatives.

By race and ethnicity, 58% of whites say making legal voting easier than making fraudulent voting more difficult. This percentage rises to 82% of blacks, and among them Hispanics, 67%.

methodology

The ABC News/Washington Post survey was conducted by landline and cell phone on June 27-30, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 907 adults. The results have a sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Party divisions 30-24-37% Democrats-Republicans-Independents.

The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates in New York City with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details of the survey methodology here.

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