In the past couple of weeks, there has been changes to the frequency of COVID coverage, especially with Ukraine and Russia at war for weeks now. However, prior to last week, Savanta wanted to work to understand the changing sentiment across the United States when it comes to pandemic anticipation and uneasiness based on what is being told in the news and across social platforms.
When it comes to concern surrounding the virus, feeling of uneasiness and trepidation has appeared to decrease between the polling periods.
This data was taken two weeks a part, with individuals being asked the same questions related to Covid-19 and the residual feelings about the pandemic.
When asked how you would characterize the severity of COVID based on what we know now from science, the effectiveness of vaccines, and other medical developments to fight the virus, 54% of Gen Z, 48% of Millennials, 34% of Gen X, and 33% of Boomers believed that COVID is less of a threat now compared to last winter. However, these numbers, in some instances significantly, went down during the second wave of responses, with only 37% of Millennials and 21% of Boomers saying the same thing two weeks later.
When it comes to concern surrounding the virus, feeling of uneasiness and trepidation has appeared to decrease between the polling periods. 60% vaccinated and 38% unvaccinated agree to the statement “I am concerned about contracting coronavirus during the first wave of responses. However, these percentages across both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals go down to around only 55% of vaccinated and 31% unvaccinated.
Similarly, when asked, do you agree with the statement “I find myself more skeptical around people that are coughing or showing signs of sickness, similar drops in numbers come between boosted and non-boosted from first wave to second, with 70% boosted and 47% non-boosted agreeing with the statement, and dropping to 65% and 43% in the last wave.
Ultimately, its unsurprising that more and more people are wanting to return to a state of normalcy. News coverage is no longer centered around COIVD scares, and death cases, but instead on COIVD-testing and the feats made to have more accessible home-care options. A focus has shifted from health and well-being to the long-term effects of COIVD on the economy, global and civil relations, and technology.