Nearly 30 percent say COVID-19 pandemic is over in US: poll

Almost 30 percent of Americans said in a poll released Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is over in the U.S., as cases, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped amid vaccinations. 

A Gallup poll determined that 29 percent of U.S. adults have concluded the coronavirus pandemic that disrupted the country and world over the past year has ended. 

Still, more than double those who think the pandemic is over, 71 percent, said they do not consider the pandemic to have ended.

Republicans are more likely to consider the pandemic over, with 57 percent saying the crisis has ended, compared to 35 percent of independents and just 4 percent of Democrats.

A total of 43 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of independents and 96 percent of Democrats said the U.S. is not yet done with the coronavirus pandemic.  

Men are also more likely than women to say the U.S. has gotten through the pandemic, with 36 percent of men and 22 percent of women considering it over in the country. 

More Americans are expressing optimism, as the poll documented a record-high percentage of people, at 89 percent, who said the coronavirus pandemic is improving in the country.

States have been loosening coronavirus restrictions as more residents get vaccinated, prompting a majority of Americans to say this month that their lives are affected “not much” or “not at all” by the pandemic. 

Fifteen percent of adults said in the June poll that their lives are completely back to normal, a jump from 9 percent in May. 

Last month, a majority of respondents at 56 percent said for the first time that healthy people should live their normal lives as much as possible instead of staying at home. In June, that percentage rose to 65 percent.

The Gallup poll surveyed a random sample of 4,843 American adults between June 14-20. The margin of error amounted to 2 percentage points.

COVID-19 has infected more than 33 million people and killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S. throughout the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.  

But the vaccination effort has contributed to dramatic drops in overall cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the country. 

As of Sunday, 63.1 percent of Americans ages 12 and older have received at least one shot, and 53.9 percent are considered fully vaccinated.

President Biden’s administration admitted last week that it is on track to miss the president’s goal to vaccinate 70 percent of adults with at least one dose by the Fourth of July. Out of adults, 66 percent have received at least one shot as of Sunday.