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The Return to Normal: Views on the Pandemic

Updated: June 29, 2022 | By Gaby Galvin and Matt Bracken

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Morning Consult has surveyed thousands of Americans every week to gauge the effects of the coronavirus on public opinion and behaviors across a wide range of categories, from politics and economics to shopping and dining. As the country transitions into a “new normal,” Morning Consult continues to closely monitor how American attitudes are shifting in these later stages of the pandemic.

The Views on the Pandemic tracker examines how the public feels about COVID-19’s continuing impacts on health, politics and the economy by examining attitudes toward vaccines, political and institutional handling of the coronavirus, economic impacts of the pandemic and more.

This tracker is updated monthly alongside Return to Normal: Consumer Comfort, which monitors the public’s comfort engaging in various socializing, entertainment and travel activities.

The historical Return to Normal tracking pages are available in full here.

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KEY TRENDS

Net Approval for Biden’s COVID-19 Handling Tumbles Among Independents: President Joe Biden’s net approval for his handling of the coronavirus fell to its lowest level among independents (minus 24) since late December, with 33% approving and 57% disapproving. Among all voters, Biden’s net approval on COVID-19 is minus 6 (44% approve, 50% disapprove).

Smaller Chasm on Concern Over Omicron Among Vaccinated, Unvaccinated: The gap in concern over coronavirus variants is narrowing between unvaccinated and vaccinated adults, as unvaccinated adults become slightly more worried and their vaccinated peers become slightly less worried. Among vaccinated adults, 65% now say they’re worried about the omicron variant, down from 71% in mid-May, while 43% of unvaccinated adults are concerned, compared with 39% in mid-May.

Risk and Concern

Concern Over the Delta and Omicron Variants
Share of vaccinated and unvaccinated U.S. adults who say they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the delta and omicron variants
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements
The share of U.S. adults who say the following entities should require a COVID-19 vaccination for employees, residents or patrons:
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Tracking Concern Over COVID-19
Share of U.S. adults who are “very” concerned about coronavirus outbreak, by generation
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Viewing COVID-19 as a ‘Severe’ Health Risk in Your Community
The share of U.S. adults who say the coronavirus is a severe health risk in their local community
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Political Impact

Economic vs. Public Health Impact of COVID-19
The share of registered voters who say they are more concerned about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak than the public health impact
Voter Trust in Congressional Handling of COVID-19
The share of voters who trust the following more to handle the coronavirus:
Weekly Morning Consult/Politico surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 1,900 registered voters and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Biden’s Net Approval for Handling COVID-19
Net approval (approval minus disapproval) among registered voters of Biden’s handling of the coronavirus
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 1,990 registered voters and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Net Approval for Leaders’ Handling of Coronavirus
Net approval (approval minus disapproval) among registered voters of each of the following’s handling of the coronavirus:
Weekly surveys are conducted among a representative sample of roughly 1,990 registered voters and have an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

About

Methodology

Morning Consult’s Return to Normal: Views of the Pandemic relies on a weekly survey that measures Americans’ perceptions of vaccines, political and institutional leadership in handling the coronavirus, the economic cost and more. The latest results are based on a survey of 2,210 adults, conducted June 23-26, 2022.

About Morning Consult

Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

About Morning Consult Trackers

Morning Consult trackers monitor everything from political sentiment to economic conditions to consumer behaviors. They are updated on either a weekly or monthly cadence using data from a representative sample, displayed in an easy-to-parse manner and accompanied by exclusive insights from leading industry analysts and subject matter experts.

Email press@morningconsult.com to speak with a member of the Morning Consult team.

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