Republicans remain less likely than Democrats to see the Covid outbreak as a major threat to public health. Overall, 84% of Democrats and 43% of Republicans say the coronavirus outbreak is a major threat to the U.S. population as a whole. The partisan gap on this measure remains about as wide as at any point during the outbreak and stands in contrast to the large shares of both Republicans (83%) and Democrats (86%) who say the outbreak is a major threat to the U.S. economy, Pew reported.
Confidence in scientists remains slightly higher than before the pandemic. With scientists and their work in the spotlight, 39% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest, an uptick from 35% who said this before the pandemic began. Most Americans have at least a fair amount of confidence in scientists. However, ratings of scientists are now more partisan than at any point since Pew Research Center first asked this question in 2016: 55% of Democrats now say they have a great deal of confidence in scientists, compared with just 22% of Republicans who say the same.
While six in 10 Americans say they would definitely or probably get a coronavirus vaccine if it were available today, up 9 percentage points from 51% in September, there remain sizable differences among key demographic groups, Pew reported.
Those with higher family incomes, adjusted for cost of living and household size, are more likely than those with middle or lower incomes to say they would get immunized, according to the survey.
Black Americans continue to stand out as less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial and ethnic groups: 42% would do so, compared with 63% of Hispanic and 61% of white adults. English-speaking Asian-Americans are even more likely to say they would definitely or probably get vaccinated (83%).
The coronavirus is thought to be a particular health risk for older adults, who are more likely to have complicating pre-existing conditions and weaker immune systems to combat the disease. Three-quarters of adults ages 65 and older say they would definitely or probably get vaccinated, compared with 55% of those under age 30, Pew found.
People’s views on getting a coronavirus vaccine that is not yet available to the general public remain fluid. Among the roughly four in 10 Americans who say they would not get the vaccine today, 46% say it’s possible they would do so once others start getting vaccinated and more information becomes available. Still, 53% of those not currently planning to get vaccinated (21% of all Americans) say they are pretty certain they won’t get a vaccine even with more information, the survey found.