COVID-19 & Politics

Just 20% of the public views the coronavirus as a major threat to the health of the U.S. population and only 10% are very concerned about getting a serious case themselves. In addition, a relatively small share of U.S. adults (28%) say they've received an updated COVID-19 vaccine since last fall.

Americans now see reducing the budget deficit as a higher priority for the president and Congress to address than in recent years. But strengthening the economy continues to be the public’s top policy priority.

Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.

Here’s what Americans said they learned about the development of vaccines and medical treatments and their advice for handling a future outbreak.

We asked respondents to describe in their own words what rose and fell in importance to them during the pandemic. Here are some of the key themes that emerged.

A median of 68% across 19 countries think their country has done a good job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, with majorities saying this in every country surveyed except Japan. However, most also believe the pandemic has created greater divisions in their societies and exposed weaknesses in their political systems – and these view are especially common in the U.S.

Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the coronavirus outbreak. Fewer than half say the country has given the right amount of priority to the needs of K-12 students, public health or quality of life.

As has often been the case on policy questions about how to deal with the pandemic, partisans are far apart in their views on mask mandates.

Most U.S. adults do not believe that requests for religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine are sincere.

A Pew Research Center analysis of official reports of COVID-19-related deaths across the country shows how the dynamics of the pandemic have shifted over the past two years.