SPRINGFIELD As more people receive their COVID-19 vaccinations, polling shows people across the state are feeling hopeful the pandemic is on the wane. But many still have some reservations about making dinner reservations, going to a movie, or working out at a gym.
A poll conducted by the Western New England University Polling Institute showed Massachusetts residents generally are feeling a little less worried about the coronavirus, but there are significant differences in views when the data is broken down by race and ethnicity or by political affiliation.
The survey was conducted over the month of March. The Polling Institute contacted 415 adults by randomly dialing both landlines and cellphone numbers. The surveys were conducted only in English.
Of the 415 people surveyed, 377 said they were registered voters, and of those 133 identified as Democrats, 42 as Republicans and 188 were unenrolled.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
The survey found that 44% of respondents had concerns about contracting COVID-19, while 54% had few to no worries.
This is a basically reversal from a similar survey conducted in October, where 64% were either very or somewhat worried, and 32% were either not worried very much or not worried at all.
Just over a third of those surveyed in March reported having at least one vaccination shot.
In Western Massachusetts, 34% had concerns about exposure, while 61% did not.
Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said they feel life will return to normal in a year or less, a slight uptick from October, when it was 59%.
Statewide, 85% favored wearing masks in public and 13% opposed it. In October, 90% favored masks.
Tim Vercellotti, director of the Polling Institute and a professor of political science at the university, said the survey indicates people are ready for things to return to what they were like a year ago, before the pandemic, but many are cautious about getting their hopes up.
More people are willing to get vaccinated, and there is some sense of diminished threat from COVID-19, he said. But people remain worried about contracting the virus and a significant number believed that the pandemic is far from over.
Just over half, or 51%, expressed feeling safe or somewhat safe eating inside a restaurant, an increase of 5 percentage points from October. Also 46% felt safe attending a religious service, an increase of 7 percentage points, and 42% felt safe going to a movie, an increase of 11 points.
Most people, however, seemed reluctant to resume their gym membership. While the percentage feeling comfortable in a gym increased by 5 percentage points from the fall, it remained at 39%.
Perception of risk for these activities has softened somewhat since our last survey, but a lot of people still view these as potentially dangerous undertakings, Vercellotti said.
The survey also shows that, statewide, 60% supported elementary school students returning to school for in-person instruction five days a week. Twenty-nine percent expressed either strong or partial opposition. Many schools across the state resumed in-person instruction on Monday.
Among Western Massachusetts residents, the support for returning to the classroom was not as strong, with 49% in favor, 41% opposed and 10% with no opinion.
When the question is broken down by race or ethnicity, there appears to be a large split between whites and nonwhites.
Sixty-two percent of whites surveyed favored reopening schools, 26% opposed it, and 13% were neutral or had no opinion. Among nonwhites, 47% were in favor, 50% were opposed and 2% were neutral or had no opinion.
Overall, a majority of those surveyed gave Gov. Charlie Baker passing grades for the rollout of the vaccines, although his overall numbers for job performance and for leading the pandemic response each showed a dip from October.
His approval rating for overall job performance and for pandemic leadership were both 62%. This marks a decline of 6% in job performance and 5% in leadership since the previous survey.
When the data is broken down by political affiliation, Baker, a Republican, is less popular with his own party than he is among Democrats or unenrolled voters. Sixty-three percent of Democrats and 69% of unenrolled voters said they approve of Bakers job performance, compared to 47% of Republicans.
In terms of Bakers handling of the pandemic, 63% of Democrats and 70% of the unenrolled approved, compared to 51% of Republicans.
That same split by political affiliation turns up in a number of other areas when one drills down into the data, which could be a reflection of how politicized the pandemic response has become over the last several months.
Overall, 54% of Democrats and 45% of unenrolled voters were worried or somewhat worried about exposure to COVID-19, compared to 33% of Republicans. Sixty-four percent of Republicans said they have little to no worries about the coronavirus, including 39% who said they are not worried at all.
In the five categories chosen for public activity, Republicans felt relatively safe eating in a restaurant, going to a movie, attending religious services, flying in an airplane or working out in a gym.
For example, 61% of Republicans said they feel safe eating inside a restaurant, compared to 53% of independents and 36% of Democrats. Also 56% of Republicans feel safe working out in a gym, compared to 41% of independents and 27% of Democrats.
Ninety-five percent of Democrats and 84% of independents favored requiring people to wear masks in public, compared to 71% of Republicans.
Also 49% of Democrats reported receiving at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 22% of Republicans and 30% of independents.
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Western New England University poll shows people are seeing light at end of COVID tunnel, but remain wary abo - MassLive.com
