Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters believe relaxing vaccine mandates, mask requirements, and social distancing guidelines would be good for the economy. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 30% disagree. Ten percent (10%) don’t believe it would have any impact while 11% are not sure.
By a 3-to-1 margin, voters who believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us believe easing restrictions would be good for the economy. Voters who believe the worst is still to come are evenly divided.
Voters who don’t believe the worst is behind us have wildly different concerns. Only half (51%) are worried about ongoing health issues. Thirty-six percent (36%) are worried about more government restrictions and mandates. This suggests that government efforts to combat the virus through further restrictions are likely to antagonize many voters.
Other data shows that 59% of voters favor relaxing vaccine mandates to ease supply chain issues. Additionally, 61% favor relaxing vaccine mandates for police officers, fire fighters, and health care workers.
These findings, along with other data, provide a sense that support for the mandates is soft. Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters now say they favor the mandates. That’s down six points over the past two months.
The latest numbers also confirm that pessimism about the pandemic is growing once again. The latest numbers show that just 40% now believe the worst is behind us while 37% say the worst is yet to come. That’s the lowest net positive rating since late September.
Perceptions about the pandemic have resembled a roller coaster ride from the very beginning. When the lockdowns first began, a majority of voters believed the pandemic would end by Memorial Day 2020.
In 2021, optimism rose quickly when the vaccines became available. By May, 56% believed the worst was behind us. However, confidence crashed over the summer with the arrival of the Delta variant. By July, just 28% still believed the worst had already come and gone. Confidence began to grow again in early October before peaking a couple of weeks ago and resuming its downhill trajectory.
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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:
Which of the following best describes your reaction to taking the COVID vaccine?
65% I have already been vaccinated.
5% I want to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
4% I want to wait and see how it works before getting vaccinated.
7% I’m in no particular rush to get vaccinated.
15% I will never get vaccinated.
3% Not sure
Question 2:
Is the worst of the pandemic behind us, or is it still to come?
40% Behind us
37% Still to come
22% Not sure
Question 3:
Would relaxing vaccine mandates, mask requirements, and social distancing guidelines be good for the economy or bad for the economy?
49% Good for the economy
30% Bad for the economy
10% No impact
11% Not sure
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on November 22-23, 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.
