Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters now believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 34% believe the worst is yet to come. Those numbers reflect a surge of optimism compared to two weeks ago.
The number saying the worst is behind us jumped 10 points while the number with a more pessimistic assessment fell by eight. This is the first time since July that a plurality of voters believe the worst is behind us. Confidence peaked at the end of May when 56% voiced such optimism.
The increased optimism is driven primarily by Republicans. Forty-nine percent (49%) of GOP voters now believe the worst is behind us. That’s up 17 points over the past two weeks. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Democrats now believe the worst is behind us (up 5). So do 32% of Independent voters (up 7).
It is interesting to note that pessimism about the economy is growing at the same time that people are becoming more optimistic about the pandemic. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters believe the country is currently in a recession.
While the coronavirus is still a threat, 49% agree that it is far less deadly than it was a year ago. Thirty percent (30%) disagree and 21% are not sure.
Forty-seven percent (47%) see those who have not received the COVID vaccine as a bigger threat than mandates forcing people to be vaccinated against their will. Forty-three percent (43%) take the opposite view.
Data released earlier found that 43% believe it’s a good thing to have people vaccinated against their will. Another 43% say it’s bad.
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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.
Question 1:
Is the worst of the pandemic behind us, or is it still to come?
38% Behind us
34% Still to come
28% Not sure
Question 2:
Is the following statement true or false: “While the coronavirus is still a threat, it is far less deadly than it was a year ago.”
49% True
30% False
21% Not sure
Question 3:
Which represents a greater threat to the nation: People who have not received the COVID vaccine or mandates forcing people to be vaccinated against their will?
47% Unvaccinated
43% Mandates
10% Not sure
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on October 11-13, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. 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.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
