Thirty-three percent (33%) of voters nationwide say that they are “Very Closely” following news about the CDC guidelines for behavior during the pandemic. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that total includes 48% of Democrats, 29% of Republicans, and 20% of Independent voters.
Among voters who have already been vaccinated or will be as soon as possible, 61% are following the CDC guidelines Very Closely. Among all other voters, just 20% are paying that much attention to the CDC. That includes people who want to wait and see before getting vaccinated, those who are in no rush, and those who will never get vaccinated.
It’s also interesting to note that there is little correlation between paying attention to the CDC and overall perceptions of the pandemic. Among voters who believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us, 33% are following CDC guidelines Very Closely. Among those who believe the worst is yet to come, that figure is 36%. This suggests that people are basing their perceptions of the pandemic primarily on sources other than the CDC.
Overall, at this time, 50% of all voters believe the worst is behind us.
The fact that 33% are following the CDC guidelines Very Closely is generally consistent with the fact that 66% have recently engaged in behavior that the CDC officially discourages.
The survey also found that 46% of voters believe the CDC has generally provided reliable and fact-based guidelines during the pandemic. Thirty-eight percent (38%) believe it has generally acted in a partisan political manner and 16% are not sure.
On this point, there is a wide partisan divide. By a 73% to 16% margin, Democrats believe the CDC guidance has been reliable and fact based. Republicans, by a 60% to 27% margin, believe the CDC has generally been partisan and political. Independent voters are evenly divided.
Since the COVID vaccines became available in January, there has been a roughly 80% decline in the number of reported cases and deaths from the virus. However, just 36% of voters nationwide are aware of the progress. This may reflect the fact that 87% of national media coverage about the pandemic has been negative. National media coverage in the United States has been far more negative than coverage in scientific journals and other nations.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from April 29-May 1, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 241 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Online respondents were selected from a list of Registered Voters and through a process of Random Digital Engagement. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
