From Yahoo:
“Poll: Vaccinated Americans
are ready to drop their masks after CDC shift. But they're not ready to
socialize with the unvaccinated.”
On Thursday, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention announced that fully vaccinated Americans are so
unlikely to transmit COVID-19 or fall ill from the virus that they no longer
need to wear masks in most indoor situations. According to a new Yahoo
News/YouGov poll, the CDC’s surprise shift could finally signal the beginning
of the end of masking in the U.S. — while also ushering in a new era defined by
growing divisions between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans. The survey of
1,561 U.S. adults, which was conducted from May 11 to 13, found that in the
week immediately prior to Thursday’s announcement, nearly two-thirds of
Americans were still saying they wore a mask outside in public “always” (39
percent) or “most of the time” (24 percent) — and the numbers among vaccinated
Americans were even higher, at 42 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Yet
when Americans who continue to cover their faces all or most of the time were
asked what it would take for them to leave their masks at home, far more (39
percent) chose this answer than any of the others: “I’m waiting until the CDC
says we can stop wearing masks.” Now that moment has arrived, and frequent mask
wearers say it is significantly more likely than any other milestone — such as
“waiting until more people in my community are fully vaccinated” (25 percent)
or “waiting until there are no COVID-19 cases in my community” (21 percent) —
to convince them to lower their face coverings. A full 45 percent of Democrats
who wear masks all or most of the time, for instance, said they would stop
whenever the CDC gave them permission to do so.
At the same time, however, it’s
important to remember who was covered by the new CDC guidance: fully vaccinated
Americans. Unvaccinated Americans, according to the CDC, should still mask up
in public to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. This sort of
distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans is set to define the
next phase of the U.S. pandemic. About 59 percent of U.S. adults have now
received at least one vaccine dose, according to the CDC. But only another 5
percent say they plan to get a shot “as soon as it is available to me.” The
rest have either said for months that they want to “wait and see what happens
to others before deciding” (9 percent); that they’re not sure (9 percent); or that
they will “never” get vaccinated (20 percent). The U.S., in other words, is
running out of adults who are eager to get a jab — and as a result the country
as a whole is not likely to reach the 75 to 90 percent vaccination threshold
that experts say is required for the kind of lasting population-wide protection
known as “herd immunity.” In the absence of herd immunity, the risks and rules
for vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans are already starting to diverge, as
Thursday’s CDC announcement demonstrates. The new Yahoo News/YouGov survey
suggests that differing views on such changes could drive these groups even
farther apart.
Overall, Americans are
increasingly optimistic about the pandemic. A full 54 percent now say the worst
is behind us; just 16 percent fear the worst is yet to come. Fewer Americans
(54 percent) say they are either very (20 percent) or somewhat (34 percent)
worried about COVID-19 than at any point since the pandemic began. Before the
CDC announcement, frequent mask usage had already fallen 15 percentage points
since late March. The fraction of Americans who say they feel comfortable
gathering indoors with vaccinated people (57 percent), eating indoors at a bar
or restaurant (48 percent) or hugging vaccinated people without masks (47
percent) has continued to climb. Yet these encouraging trends conceal emerging
divisions between vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans over how best to move
forward. While significant numbers of those who’ve gotten at least one shot say
they’re less worried about getting COVID-19 (49 percent) or giving it to others
(39 percent), vaccinated Americans remain far more cautious and concerned about
the virus than Americans who say they’ll never get vaccinated. To wit: A full
59 percent of anti-vaxxers say most Americans are “overreacting to the actual
risks” of COVID-19 — but just 12 percent of vaccinated Americans say the same.
The upshot is that there’s a
growing desire among vaccinated Americans to be insulated from the perceived
risks posed by their unvaccinated peers — a desire those unvaccinated peers do
not share. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of vaccinated Americans, for
instance, say they would want to know people’s vaccination status before
socializing with them; half (50 percent) say they would go so far as to ask
about vaccination status before socializing; and 61 percent say they would feel
comfortable socializing with unvaccinated people only “under certain conditions
(outdoors, masks, etc.).” Likewise, 81 percent of vaccinated Americans want
their unvaccinated peers to continue wearing masks indoors, and 62 percent want
them to keep covering their faces outdoors, too. (Majorities of Americans — 62
percent and 53 percent, respectively — agree.) Asked whether unvaccinated
Americans should “be allowed to do all the same things as vaccinated
Americans,” far more of those who’ve gotten at least one shot say no (54
percent) than yes (29 percent). Needless to say, anti-vaxxers disagree with
that last statement (by an 84 to 9 percent margin). So does the public at large
(though by a much closer margin of 45 to 38 percent). Yet vaccinated Americans
vastly outnumber those who say they’ll never get vaccinated, and it’s entirely
possible that businesses and institutions will increasingly cater to their
desire for peace of mind in public settings. It’s a desire that runs deep. A
full 59 percent of vaccinated Americans say they want businesses to require
proof of vaccination from customers, and even more say the government should
require “vaccine passports” to attend school (60 percent), attend a sporting
event (61 percent) or fly on an airplane (71 percent). Similar numbers of
vaccinated Americans want their own employers to require vaccination for
in-person workers (65 percent) and public schools to require vaccination for
returning students (73 percent). It’s no surprise, then, that “private
employers, restaurants and entertainment venues” are already “looking for ways
to make those who are vaccinated feel like VIPs, both to protect workers and
guests, and to possibly entice those not yet on board,” according to a recent
report in the New York Times — or that “access and privilege among the
vaccinated may rule for the near future, in public and private spaces.”
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll
clearly shows that both anti-vaxxers and the wait-and-see crowd — a combined 29
percent of U.S. adults — oppose such privileges. Whether they entice any
holdouts to get a jab, however, remains to be seen. Just 9 percent of
unvaccinated Americans say the main reason they haven’t gone through with it
yet is that they “don’t have easy access to vaccination”; just 3 percent say
the main reason is that they “can’t get time off from work”; and just 7 percent
say the main reason is that they “already had COVID-19.” Far more unvaccinated
Americans, meanwhile, say they’re holding off because they “don’t trust the
COVID-19 vaccines” (44 percent). Another 12 percent say they’re “not worried
about getting the virus.” As a consequence, only small numbers of unvaccinated
Americans say they would be more likely to get a shot if they could get vaccinated
at their doctor’s office (20 percent); if they get could vaccinated at their
place of work (14 percent); if a nurse came to their house and offered to
vaccinate them there (16 percent); if it meant they were no longer required to
wear a mask in public (22 percent); if their employer required them to be
vaccinated to return to the workplace (21 percent); if they received something
for free (like a beer or a gift card) in exchange (16 percent); if they
received $100 in exchange (24 percent); or if it gave them easier access to
things like travel, sports, entertainment and restaurants (22 percent). Even
among those in wait-and-see mode, 30 percent or fewer say that any of these
enticements would make them more likely to get vaccinated.
^ I am fully-vaccinated and I
believe that the fully-vaccinated should not be forced to wear masks indoors or
outdoors. The unvaccinated have chosen not to get the vaccine (which is their
right) but that doesn’t mean those of us who have chosen to get the vaccine
(which is also our right) should be forced to endure the same restrictions.
Since there won’t be a National Covid Passport and counterfeiters will easily
be able to make fake CDC Covid Vaccine Cards it is really on the honor system
to determine who is and is not vaccinated. Unlike, most other things on the
honors system it will only adversely affect the unvaccinated if they lie since
they can get Covid. ^
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