One-third of Americans in new poll say pandemic is over

by Olafimihan Oshin - 05/23/22 1:21 PM ET

AP-David Goldman
A masked Transportation Security Administration agent checks the identification of a passenger at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport in Providence, R.I., Tuesday, April 19, 2022. A federal judge’s decision to strike down a national mask mandate was met with cheers on some airplanes but also concern about whether it’s really time to end one of the most visible vestiges of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

One-third of respondents to a new Gallup poll published on Monday said they believe the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

The poll found that 34 percent of respondents said that the pandemic is over, while 66 percent of respondents disagreed with that sentiment.

There was a stark partisan divide in responses. Sixty-six percent of respondents who are registered Republicans said that the pandemic is over, compared with 10 percent of Democrats. Thirty-nine percent of independents shared the view that the pandemic is finished.

The poll comes as Democrats look to pass a new round of COVID-19 funding, necessary to produce new vaccines and COVID-19 treatments. Public health experts warn the pandemic continues to pose a serious risk to vulnerable populations and young children, who are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the Gallup poll, the age group most likely to say the pandemic is over is adults between 45 and 64.

Overall, 11 percent of respondents said they believe COVID-19 will disrupt public life for just a few more weeks, compared to 40 percent who said it will continue until the end of the year and 34 percent who said the disruption will be last even longer.

Twenty-one percent of respondents said they believe their lives have returned to normal despite the ongoing pandemic, while 50 percent of those surveyed said their lives will never return to normal.

Last month, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said the U.S. was “out of the pandemic phase,” which he later clarified, saying “I probably should have said the acute component of the pandemic phase.”

Deborah Birx, who served with Fauci on former President Trump’s coronavirus response team, recently said the U.S. should to prepare for a new wave of COVID-19 cases this summer.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said on Sunday that he hopes lawmakers can pass a bill soon to prepare for potential waves of the virus in the fall and winter.

If Congress fails to act, he said, “we will go into the fall and winter without that next generation of vaccines, without treatments and diagnostics.”

“That’s going to make it much, much harder for us to take care of and protect Americans,” he added.

The U.S. recently hit the milestone of 1 million COVID-19 deaths earlier this month.

The U.S. reported a daily average of 105,713 COVID-19 cases on May 22, as well as 284 deaths and 3,335 hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Gallup poll was conducted from April 25 to May 2.