Covid concerns lower than ever in US: Pew

(CN) — The latest Pew Research Center survey on Covid-19 found that only one in five Americans view Covid as a major threat to the U.S. today. Moreover, half as many people — 10% — are concerned they will catch the illness. Both figures mark a precipitous drop from the level of concern in 2020, when two-thirds of Americans feared the novel coronavirus.

Pew surveyed 10,133 American adults from February 7-11, 2024, building on their data from prior years.

Vaccination rates have followed the decline in concern. Less than a third of U.S. adults have gotten the latest Covid vaccine, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most Americans have some degree of protection, either from prior vaccination, prior infection, or both. But the CDC has nonetheless called for more Americans to get vaccinated to better protect themselves and others.

Partisanship continues to shape how people view and react to Covid, as does age. One in 10 Republicans under 50 and three in 10 Democrats under 50 have the newest vaccine, while 24% of Republicans and 66% of Democrats do over age 65 are fully vaccinated. That gap between older Republicans and older Democrats “is much wider now than at other points since the start of the outbreak,” Pew found.

Race and ethnicity statistics remain clustered together on the whole, around 28%, but white and Asian Democrats are much more likely (50%) than their Black and Hispanic counterparts (32%) to be fully vaccinated.

"Long Covid" — the lingering presence of symptoms after infection — also remains a concern, both for the CDC and the general public. Half of the people surveyed consider long Covid a high research priority, with Democrats once again much more concerned than Republicans. Women are also much more likely than men to be concerned (56% versus 44%), given that CDC data shows women are more likely than men to get long Covid.

Finally, while just 27% of Americans fear coming down with a serious Covid infection themselves, 40% are worried about spreading it to others. Both figures have dropped more than 25 points since the start of the pandemic (55% and 66%, respectively, in April 2020), but are just slightly below the levels Pew found at this time last year.

Here, the demographic gaps are more pronounced. Democrats are twice as concerned as Republicans about spreading Covid (54% versus 24%). Likewise, white Americans are far less concerned (35%) than non-white Americans (49-54%).

All of this comes as the CDC has loosened its guidelines on Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. With Covid spread slowing in all but one state — Idaho — the agency has dropped its guidance for a five-day isolation following a positive test. Instead, “the [new] recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication.” The agency still urges concerned Americans to wear well-fitting masks, practice social distancing and get tested.

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