A new poll suggests that Americans aren’t packing their fears of COVID-19 as they plan for vacations and have no capacity to deal with another public health crisis, such as monkeypox.
The latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index shows that half of respondents said they had gone on vacation or taken trips to see family or friends in the last three months. More than 70% said they didn’t take precautions like wearing masks or limiting socializing to reduce the risk of getting the virus before vacation.
Americans' perception of personal risk has reached a point where the most common precaution travelers take is washing or sanitizing their hands more often, with less than half doing even that.
"We're dealing with the scar tissue of the pandemic," Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs told Axios. "Public opinion has been beaten down, and many people don't know if it's just easier to go on without taking extra precautions."
Compared to the 53% measured a year ago, 37% said there was some or a lot of risk involved in returning to pre-pandemic life.
According to the survey, two in three people say they’re seeing people outside of their households, dining out and going shopping, with only 29% reporting that they’ve practiced social distancing in the past week.
"People are going about their daily lives, but COVID is still lingering," Young said. "There's always that specter in the background."
The poll’s findings indicate a third of Americans are somewhat or very familiar with "rebound" COVID-19 cases in people who have taken Pfizer’s antiviral treatment Paxlovid.
Fewer than half of respondents said they were concerned about the monkeypox outbreak, and 64% said they are unlikely to get the monkeypox vaccine.
While 53% say they have heard of the monkeypox outbreak, the poll's findings suggest that the public largely views it as a problem affecting others.
Approximately one quarter of Americans remain aware of the pandemic's course and take preventive measures like masking most of the time and limiting indoor dining, according to the survey.
This population subset tends to lean Democratic and is already vaccinated.
Among those surveyed, 80% of the group said they would be interested in receiving a reformulated COVID-19 booster that provides better protection against new variants.
President Joe Biden got a small boost in the poll, with 43% saying they trust him to provide them with accurate information on the virus, versus 39% two months ago.
The poll was conducted Aug. 12-15 and surveyed 1,047 U.S. adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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