WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 percent of Americans are concerned about the new delta variant of COVID-19 including more than half of those who are unvaccinated, new polling from Axios/Ipsos found.
According to the poll, the level of perceived risk from COVID-19 increased 13 points from mid-July and up 24 points from late June. Fifty-two percent of Americans polled said returning to pre-COVID activities to be risky with vaccinated Americans more nervous, 56 percent, versus the unvaccinated 43 percent.
As Governor Ron DeSantis continues to wage a battle against mandating wearing masks, a majority of Americans said they are voluntarily wearing masks. The poll found 57 percent of Americans are wearing a mask all or some of the time, which was an increase of five percent from mid-July.
The Axios poll found that more than three-quarters of Americans, 77 percent, said they have gotten the vaccine or plan to do so. The poll also found that firm opposition to getting the vaccine had dropped to just 15 percent saying they would be a “hard pass” on getting the vaccine. Additionally, 59 percent of parents said they were more likely to consider getting their child vaccinated while opposition from parents dropped to 25 percent.
The poll also found that two-thirds of Americans trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give them accurate information about COVID-19, unchanged from mid-July. Almost all Americans, 95 percent, said they had heard about the new mask usage guidelines, and 67 percent said the guidelines were somewhat or very clear.
Finally, when it came to who Americans blamed for the current spike in cases, nearly 80 percent of the vaccinated pointed to the unvaccinated as to who is to blame, followed by former President Donald Trump, conservative media, and international tourists. The unvaccinated said the leading causes of the current spike were international tourists, mainstream media, and President Joe Biden.