Most in U.S. not worried about COVID-19
Most Americans are unconcerned about COVID-19 risks this holiday season.
According to a survey conducted by the health policy research organization KFF and published on Friday, approximately 75% of adults expressed little or no worry about getting infected with the coronavirus, while two-thirds downplayed the risk of transmission to loved ones. Less than half were notably concerned about the potential for another COVID-19 surge during the winter, as has occurred in previous years of the pandemic.
These findings emerge despite a recent rise in COVID-19 hospital admissions following a steady decline since September. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 16,200 Americans were hospitalized in the week ending Nov. 11, marking an 8.6% increase from the previous week.
Early indicators suggest the U.S. is approaching a winter upswing, with the CDC’s weekly respiratory virus summary noting that COVID-19 activity “remains elevated,” along with surges in RSV and influenza. Over the past week, COVID-19 emergency department visits rose by 7.1%, the national test positivity rate increased to 8.4% and deaths climbed by 9.1%.
California reported a 15% uptick in the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals, resulting in 1,719 new admissions in the past week.
Meanwhile, federal data shows only about 14% of eligible adults, or roughly 36 million people, have received the reformulated COVID-19 vaccine that has been available for nearly two months. By comparison, 35% have gotten the flu vaccine this season.
Half of the respondents in the KFF survey, including a third of previous vaccine recipients, expressed no intention of getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine, citing a perceived lack of concern about the virus.
Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of medicine at UCSF, recently noted that the virus has now settled into a predictable pattern, which may indicate
why concern is waning.
“The most surprising thing about the last 18 months is how unsurprising it has been,” he said in an interview last week on the “In the Bubble” podcast hosted by former Biden administration adviser Andy Slavitt. “We have settled into a pattern that has by and large not been violated since probably March a year and a half ago. There’s
a surge and it comes down, and there’s a surge and then it comes down, usually associated with a new variant that’s a little bit better at its business of infecting people and or evading immunity than the one before it.”
The prevailing sentiment from the KFF report aligns with the findings of an Ohio State University survey in which a third of Americans said they don’t need COVID-19 and flu vaccines
this season, considering themselves at low risk for complications from the viruses.
Dr. Megan Conroy, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Ohio State, considered that perspective disappointing. “Unfortunately, respiratory viruses can cause really severe and life-changing disease for some people, even among the young and very healthy,” she said in an analysis of the results.
The KFF survey also points to an increasing disregard for COVID-19 precautions, with only about a third of respondents planning to avoid large gatherings, a quarter willing to wear masks in crowded places or refrain from travel, and one-fifth planning to avoid indoor restaurants or take a coronavirus test before visiting family and friends.
Wachter rationalized this shifting attitude, saying, “I think that the threat has gone down considerably. I think it’s perfectly reasonable, even for someone who’s fairly COVID careful, to basically keep half an eye on the news.”
To date, over 1.15 million people in the U.S. have lost their lives to COVID-19, including more than 61,000 since January, primarily older adults and those with compromised immune systems. Additionally, millions continue to suffer from long-term effects of the mysterious disease known as long COVID.