A recent survey by Rasmussen Reports shows that far more Democrats (77%) are concerned about new Covid-19 variants, compared to the 45% of Republicans.
The numbers include 42% of Democrats who classify themselves as being “very concerned” about new variants of the virus, while just 18% of Republicans say they are “very concerned.”
Rasmussen Reports also found that 39% of American adults are not concerned about the variants, including 16% who are “not concerned at all.”
Ever since the pandemic began in 2020, surveys have shown strong partisan divisions in opinions about the coronavirus and this continues to be the case, as the pandemic continues into the new year of 2022.
Among unaffiliated voters, who do not identify with either major party, 50% are concerned about new COVID-19 variants, including 22% who are “very concerned.”
When it comes to beliefs on natural immunity, those who have previously been infected with Covid-19, most Democrats (61%) say they believe that vaccine induced immunity is more effective than naturally acquired immunity. While only 17% of Democrats say natural immunity offers more protection than the vaccines.
On the opposing political spectrum, 43% of Republicans say they think natural immunity is more effective in protecting against Covid-19 infection and 25% of Republicans think the Covid-19 vaccines offer better protection.
Also according to Rasmussen Reports:
Among those under 40, more men (51%) than women (38%) believe vaccines are more effective in protecting against COVID-19.
Most voters now disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he broke the promise he made during the campaign last year to “shut down the virus.”
More than half of voters are concerned that COVID-19 vaccines could have harmful side effects, and don’t think the federal government should have the power to make vaccination mandatory.
Read survey results and view survey questions here
The Covid pandemic has flipped the normal psychological patterns of “liberals” and “conservatives.” Psychological studies usually show conservatives to be more risk-adverse, which is why they prefer slower rates of social change so as not to plunge society into unanticipated crises due to the unintended consequences of policies that might have superficially seemed like good ideas.
But with Covid, it is the left that seems far more risk-adverse, living in constant fear of a virus with a very high survival rate for those without significant health issues. My liberal sister is vaccinated and boosted, as are presumably most of the people in her circle. yet she cancelled most of her holiday plans because of fear of the omicron variant.
As for me, I am unvaccinated but use several of the OTC products that have been recommended as prophylactics for Covid. I don’t regard these as a “magic bullet,” but use them as an alternative to the vaccines which I simply don’t trust for someone in my position. And I have not cancelled by holiday plans because I didn’t have any holiday plans other than a visit from my daughter and her family, which was postponed due to heavy snow in the area.
I agree in large part with Stephen with respect to role reversal between Democrats and Republicans inasmuch that conservatives tend to be traditionally risk-adverse. Beyond the psychological aspect, we have known for the past 10 years that there is a neuro-anatomical basis for this as well. Structural MRI studies have repeatedly shown that the Right Amygdala (not the left) is LARGER in conservatives. This structure is a part of our limbic system and processes emotional response to fear-inducing stimuli. You would think conservatives would have greater fear according to this function,right? But it also deals with conditional memory of prior experiences of similar nature. Maybe that explains a more “measured fear” response by conservatives. By contrast, the anterior cingulate cortex plays a role in error detection, decision making, and conflict monitoring and this structure is larger in liberals! Whether this “larger processor” in the front of the brain helps or deters the liberal mind is hard to say. Perhaps this allows them to process more conflict-inducing stimuli but does that mean it helps in decision making? Or is their imprinted ideological conditioning the greater issue with respect to greater covid fear? Science will give us answers eventually but I would bet the debate that ensues will be all POLITICAL!
The number that strikes me as unbelievable is that 61% of liberals believe that vaccine immunity is stronger than natural immunity. The censorship by the tech companies appears to working as this is clearly a false belief. ALL of the friend, family members, and coworkers we know who have tested positive for COVID in the past few months are vaccinated and have not previously had COVID. We try to remember that people with these false beliefs are not at totally at fault as factual data is being hidden from them. Calm, reasonable discourse can plant a seed in the minds of those with these false beliefs.