21 Percent Of Adults Say Health Crisis Will 'Never' End

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads across the United States, many Americans appear pessimistic that the global pandemic will ever come to an end. In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, 21% of US adults say that the health crisis will “never” end. 

Other Americans tend to believe that the pandemic will not last forever, though there is little consensus as to when it will truly end. One in 10 Americans (10%) say the pandemic is already over, while 9% believe it will be finished by the end of the summer (2%) or by the end of this year (7%). One-quarter of Americans (25%) see the coronavirus emergency wrapping up in 2022. About one-third of adults (35%) think it will not be over until after 2022.

Republicans are the most likely to believe the pandemic is already over. One in five Republicans (19%) say this, compared to 12% of Independents and 2% of Democrats. But, a majority of each political group believes that the COVID-19 pandemic will not end this year. In fact, a plurality of Republicans (31%), Independents (34%), and Democrats (41%) do not see the crisis ending until after 2022.

Those who do not plan to get vaccinated are more likely than Americans overall to believe either that the pandemic has already ended (25%) or that it will never end (33%). One-quarter of Americans who are unsure about getting vaccinated (26%) believe the pandemic will never be over. Those who are vaccinated are slightly more optimistic: just 17% of those who have gotten the shot say that the pandemic will never end.

Americans who are vaccinated (39%) or those who are unsure about vaccination (42%) tend to think that the pandemic will finally end after 2022. One in five of those who do not plan on getting vaccinated (21%) see after 2022 as the eventual end date.