A new poll reveals that those who have been inoculated with COVID vaccines are more likely to feel reluctant about engaging in public activities versus their unvaccinated counterparts.
The general assumption is that Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should feel more confident about going about normal life free of masks. After all, the CDC just announced this week that fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear face masks or practice social distancing in most settings.
A new poll, however, has found that it is those vaccinated people who are more reluctant to go back to living normal lives and engaging in public activities versus those who have not gotten inoculated with the COVID vaccines, leading some to believe that COVID vaccines don't really remove the fear people feel about the virus.
According to The Blaze, a survey of 879 vaccinated American adults and 1,321 unvaccinated adults revealed that those who did not get COVID vaccines were more likely to look forward to returning to normal life and engaging in public activities. The study was conducted by Morning Consult to determine the interest of vaccinated versus unvaccinated Americans to return to activities such as going to the gym, taking public transport, attending social gatherings like parties and weddings, attending a concert, and traveling abroad.
In every category, the poll found that respondents who did not get COVID vaccines were more likely to participate in the aforementioned events.
Up to 43% of unvaccinated people believed it was now safe to go back to the gym versus only 27% of vaccinated people. 42% of unvaccinated people were looking forward to attending sport events, versus 29% of vaccinated people, and 42% of unvaccinated respondents would agree to attending a concert versus 23% of vaccinated people.
When it comes to dating, 43% of vaccinated individuals were more open to putting themselves out there versus 54% of unvaccinated people who did not think vaccination would hinder dating.
Meanwhile, 35% of vaccinated people would attend a religious gathering versus 45% of unvaccinated people. 56% of vaccinated individuals are more open to dining at a restaurant versus 63% of unvaccinated people. The conclusion this draws is that the COVID vaccines don't really remove the fear people feel about the virus.
According to the CDC, about 120.2 million Americans or 36.2% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, about 155.2 million or 46.8% have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccines. There have been over 268.4 million administered vaccines from the three approved vaccines for use, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
"There is a concern among vaccinated people that a lot of folks who are unvaccinated will be attending these events because they view them as very low risk or they're not concerned about their own personal risk," Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello, a public health policy expert in New York, told Morning Consult.
The poll also found that the vaccinated folks who were more concerned about COVID-19 had these things in common: they were Democratic, older, more educated, and had higher incomes. Kalyanaraman Marcello explained that their reluctance despite having COVID vaccines stems from knowing that their unvaccinated peers will be out and about and sharing spaces with them.
