DFP Coronavirus Response Tracking Poll Week 40

By Brian Schaffner Tufts University

Summary

This is now the 20th wave of the Data for Progress Coronavirus tracking poll and the first edition fielded in 2021. Americans have increasingly had close experiences with the virus; 5% of respondents said that they had tested positive for coronavirus at some point themselves, while about two-thirds say that they know someone who has been infected. In fact, 37% in our most recent wave have at least one family member who has coronavirus. In many cases, Americans know someone for whom the virus has had serious consequences – 30% now say that they know at least one person who has been hospitalized because of coronavirus and about one-in-five Americans know someone who has died from the virus.

With two vaccines now being distributed to Americans, we probed people’s expectations regarding the vaccine roll out. 28% of American adults expect that they will be eligible to receive the vaccine before the end of March. This is especially true for senior citizens – over half of senior citizens expect to have access to the vaccine within the next few months. However, 45% of Americans are unsure about when they will receive the vaccine and another 17% think that they will not be eligible until June or later. This uncertainty appears to have led to dissatisfaction with the speed of the vaccine roll out – 48% of Americans think that the vaccine distribution is happening too slowly.

There is also concern among experts about how many Americans may seek to avoid being vaccinated. About six-in-ten Americans told us that they were somewhat or very likely to get the vaccine while 14% said that they were somewhat unlikely to get vaccinated and about one-in-four were very unlikely to do so. This sentiment was much more common among Republicans than it was among Democrats – 44% of Republicans say they were unlikely to get the vaccine compared to 26% of Democrats. Younger individuals were also much more likely to say that they might not get vaccinated compared to those who are older.

Finally, since our last wave, Congress passed new stimulus legislation that was signed by the president. This legislation is quite popular with the public – over 70% of Americans either strongly or somewhat support this new stimulus, an increase over support for the proposed legislation back in December (before it included a promise of new stimulus checks). Despite Trump signing this stimulus package, he continues to receive the bulk of the blame for the state of the pandemic and 55% disapprove of his handling of the outbreak compared to just 41% who say they approve.

Worry/Concern about coronavirus

The graph below tracks the percentage of Americans who say that they are very worried about personally experiencing coronavirus and those who are very concerned in general about the coronavirus pandemic.

Question wording: Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of the illness, how worried are you personally about experiencing coronavirus (COVID-19)?

How concerned are you about a coronavirus epidemic here in the United States?

Approval on handling of coronavirus pandemic

The graph below shows net approval – the percent who strongly or somewhat approve of how Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the CDC are handling the coronavirus pandemic minus the percent who strongly or somewhat disapprove.

Question wording: “For each person or group, say whether you approve or disapprove of the way they are handling the coronavirus pandemic:”

The next graph shows who Americans say is mostly to blame for the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Respondents could select as many of the options as they wanted in response to this question.

Question wording: “Based on what you’ve seen, read, or heard, who would you say is mostly to blame for the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States? (Select all that apply)” Democrats in Congress, Republicans in Congress, President Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, None of these

Question wording: Which level of government do you trust more to handle the Coronavirus pandemic: The [R’s state] state government or the federal government?

Changes in job status

Here we track responses to a question asking respondents how their work has changed since March 1st of this year. Only respondents who are in the work force are included in the chart below.

Question wording: Since March 1st, 2020, has your work changed? Yes, my hours have been reduced. Yes, I lost my job.

Personal experience with coronavirus

Question wording: Do you, personally, know someone who has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus? (Select all that apply)

Yes, a family member

Yes, a friend

Yes, a co-worker

Question wording: Was anyone you know who was diagnosed with coronavirus hospitalized? Did anyone you know who was diagnosed with coronavirus die?

Vaccination

Question wording: From what you have heard, when do you expect that you will be eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine? This month, In February, In March, In April, In May, In June, Some time after June, Not sure

Question wording: Do you think that the Covid-19 vaccines are being distributed…? Too quickly, Too slowly, At about the right pace.

Question wording: When you are eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, how likely are you to get the vaccination?

Social Distancing

Question wording: Which of the following best describes your current behavior?

I am socializing in public places

I am not going to public places, but I am socializing with friends or family in my or their homes

I am not going to public places, but I am socializing with friends or family virtually

I am not going to public places nor am I socializing with family or friends

Question wording: Which, if any, of the following measures have you taken during the past two weeks to protect yourself from coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Wore a face mask when in public places

Avoided crowded public places

Avoided physical contact with people

Government response to Coronavirus

In this section, we show how Americans are evaluating what the government has done to address the Coronavirus pandemic and how much they still want the government to do.

Question wording (12/15/2020): Congress is now considering a new stimulus proposal which would spend $908 billion. The proposal includes enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $300 per week; $160 billion in financial aid to state and local governments; $288 billion to renew the Paycheck Protection Program and help small businesses; and $25 billion in rental assistance. It does not include a second stimulus check. Do you support or oppose this legislation?

Question wording (1/12/2021): Congress recently passed a new stimulus package which spends $908 billion. The proposal includes enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $300 per week; $600 stimulus checks for qualifying individuals; $284 billion to renew the Paycheck Protection Program and help small businesses; $69 billion for vaccine development and deployment; and $25 billion in rental assistance. Do you support or oppose this package?

Question wording: Based on what you have heard, do you support the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or CARES Act?

Question wording: Congress is now considering the HEROES Act, which would spend an additional $3 trillion, including $1 trillion for state and local governments and hospitals, $200 billion in hazard pay for essential workers, and would give households a additional stimulus payments ranging from $1,200 to $6,000. Do you support or oppose this legislation?

Question wording: Which comes closer to your view?

The government needs to spend more to address the coronavirus pandemic, even if it means increasing the national debt and deficit

The government has spent enough to address the coronavirus pandemic and should not do anything else to increase the national debt and deficit

The government has spent too much to address the coronavirus pandemic and should cut spending to reduce the national debt and deficit

Question wording: Would you support or oppose the following provisions in a future legislative package to address the coronavirus pandemic:

General scope of government

Here we track Americans views on the scope of government.

Question 1 wording: Some people think the government should provide fewer services even in areas such as health and education in order to reduce spending. Suppose these people are at one end of a scale. Other people feel it is important for the government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending. Suppose these people are at the other end. Where would you place yourself on this scale? 1=Provide fewer services. 7=Provide many more services.

Question 2 wording: Some people feel the government in Washington should see to it that every person has a job and a good standard of living. Suppose these people are at one end of a scale. Others think the government should just let each person get ahead on their own. Suppose these people are at the other end. Where would you place yourself on this scale? 1=Govt should let each person get ahead on own. 7=Govt should see to jobs and standard of living.

Question wording: Do you think that the government response right now should mostly be focused on: Relief in the form of assistance to workers and small business OR Investments in new infrastructure to get Americans back to work.

Methodology

The Data for Progress coronavirus tracking poll is fielded each week using respondents recruited via Lucid. Post-stratification weights are implemented to make each week’s sample nationally representative of American adults by gender, age, region, education, race, and the interaction of education and race. The data are also weighted to match vote shares from the previous presidential election (2016 prior to November and 2020 after November). The margin of error for each week’s survey is approximately ± 4 percentage points (this is a conservative estimate and will vary slightly depending on the exact sample size and design effect each week).

Full Toplines and Crosstabs

A document showing toplines by survey wave for each question can be found here.

Crosstabs for each week’s poll can be found at the links below: