Americans are less willing to take precautions as the coronavirus wears on – CNN

This new stage comes at a time when the public seems to be worn out by the virus and is less likely to want mandatory restrictions or want to take voluntary precautions that could help to stop the spread of the virus.

Likewise, a majority of Americans say they have gone out to eat, visited with friends or relatives, or visited a non-grocery retail store in the last week. Last winter, these were all minority positions.

Not only are more people going outside of their home, but they're far less likely to wear a mask when doing so. Only 38% of Americans report wearing a mask at all times in the last week in the Ipsos poll. This isn't much different than it was in other polls taken since this past summer. Last December, about double the percentage of Americans (74% on average) said they always wore a mask when outside of their home.

And when it comes to the willingness to vaccinate themselves, Americans really haven't budged. In the Ipsos poll, the percentage of adults with at least one dose or likely to get one has bounced between 78% and 83% in every poll taken since September. The Monmouth poll has the percentage who have already received or are likely to get one as soon as possible at 78%, which is the range (77% to 81%) it's been within since September.

As for booster shots, there continues to be a major dropoff compared to getting a first shot. Only 51% of adults say they have gotten one or will very likely get one in the Monmouth poll. This is the same as it was last month, even with omicron now on the table. CNN's poll found that only 46% of Americans say they've been boosted or have tried to schedule a booster.

Beyond just voluntary measures, the public seems no more likely to want too much government intervention either to control the spread. A majority (55%) in the Monmouth poll want the government to instituting mask and social distancing guidelines. This is not statistically significantly higher than it was this summer and actually lower than the 63% who wanted it back in September.

CNN's poll put support for mask mandates in public indoor spaces at just 49%.

When it comes to vaccine mandates, we've seen a gradual decline in support across a lot of polling. In the Monmouth poll, for example, 46% support a mandate for people to go to a job in which they're around other people. This was 51% in November and 53% in September. Now, 50% oppose it.

Even in the CNN poll, which showed a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who favored requiring vaccines for everyday to take part in everyday activities outside the home, support was just 54%.

The truth is that a lot of people seem to want to move on from the fights of the coronavirus that have consumed our society for nearly two years. There are other issues (mainly the economy) that the public deems to be bigger problems.

The question now is whether these numbers shift in the coming weeks as we fully enter winter. It's plausible, if things get really bad. So far, though, it hasn't happened.

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Americans are less willing to take precautions as the coronavirus wears on - CNN