A third of Americans still ‘very worried’ or ‘somewhat worried’ about getting Covid and one in SEVEN still wearing a mask in public, poll finds

Nearly a third of Americans are still concerned about the threat of Covid, a survey shows.

When asked by YouGov, ‘How concerned are you about getting Covid-19?’, 24 percent of adults said they were ‘somewhat concerned’, while seven percent said they were ‘very concerned’.

Responses – given between August 17 and 21 – are down slightly from April 2022, when 45 percent said “somewhat concerned” and 13 percent said “very concerned.”

The poll was conducted amid a slight rise in Covid rates and the emergence of two highly mutated variants – EG.5, or Eris, and BA.2.86, or Pirola.

Meanwhile, one in seven said they still wear a mask ‘sometimes’, and the same percentage said they would ‘think less’ of someone wearing a mask in public.

Yahoo conducted the research! and YouGov used a representative sample of 1,665 US adults interviewed online

Black Americans and Democrats were more likely than other groups to say they are following Covid news “very closely” or “somewhat closely.”

Overall, a third of Americans said they had closely followed current reports of Covid infection rates.

When asked about booster shots, 34 percent said they would be willing to get another one, and nine percent said they wouldn’t. The remaining 57 percent indicated that they had not received an initial booster injection.

Booster shots will be ready soon, and Biden has already indicated that the White House will likely recommend everyone get a top shot, including kids.

The new vaccines, made by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, have been redesigned to target the dominant XBB variants and are expected to be rolled out in mid-September.

The study participants were also asked if they had worn a face covering outside the home in the past seven days.

One in seven said they had done this ‘sometimes’, while 74 percent said they never wore a mask.

Earlier this year, one of the most comprehensive meta-analyses of face coverings suggested that masks made “little to no difference” to Covid infection or death rates.

About 14 percent said they think less about people they now see wearing masks in public, but 73 percent said they wouldn’t judge either way.

Nine percent said they would think more about it, and the remaining four percent weren’t sure.

Since the pandemic broke four years ago, most Americans have been infected, vaccinated, or both, meaning the majority will have antibodies to the virus.

Research from the University of Florida found that as of last September, 96 percent of Americans over the age of 16 had antibodies to Covid.

People need to be aware of what’s going on with the emergence of the new variants, says Dr. Timothy Murphy, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at the University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Yahoo life.

He said: ‘This should not be at the level of concern it was when there was a high number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

“But Covid isn’t going away and it’s wise that we keep an eye on things.”

He added: “It’s okay not to worry about Covid every day. But it’s important to be vigilant about it, because things can change – and quickly.’

US hospitalizations are on the rise — up 21 percent in a week to 12,600 in the seven-day period to August 12 — although this is an increase from historic lows. It is also still below the level of last year around this time.

However, the number of deaths remained static: 497 recorded in the week to July 29 – the latest number available – barely a shift from 491 the week before.