Is the COVID pandemic over — and will normalcy ever return? Poll finds divided America

Roughly one-third of Americans consider the pandemic over — but more think their lives will never return to pre-pandemic norms.

A Gallup poll released Monday found optimism about the COVID-19 situation has hit a record high, with 89% of respondents saying they believe it’s getting a lot or at least a little better. But Americans are divided on whether the pandemic is over and whether their lives are back to normal or ever will be.

The poll, which surveyed 4,843 adults between June14-20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, comes when about 57% of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated and as more than 66% have received at lease one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The availability of coronavirus vaccines has allowed many Americans to return to some aspects of normal life and more businesses to open with fewer restrictions. In May, the CDC said fully vaccinated Americans “can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.” (The CDC still recommends unvaccinated Americans take these precautions.)

“Now that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 and most facets of everyday life have reopened, Americans increasingly see less disruption in their lives and feel a sense of normalcy returning,” Gallup says. “However, for the most part, they think the pandemic is still ongoing.”

Do Americans think the pandemic is over?

Twenty-nine percent of poll respondents said they think the pandemic is over in the U.S. But more than twice as many, 71%, said they don’t think it’s over, Gallup found.

Gallup found “significant differences” in answers based on political affiliation, sex, age and region of the country.

Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to say the pandemic is over, 57% compared to 4%, and Democrats were much more likely to say it isn’t, 96% compared to 43%. Among Independents, 35% said the pandemic is over and 66% said it is not.

Males were also more likely than females to say the pandemic is over. Gallup found 36% of males surveyed said it’s over while just 22% of females said the same.

Respondents ages 35 to 54 were the age group most likely to think the pandemic is over — with 32% saying it is and 68% saying it’s not. Among those ages 18 to 34, 24% said the pandemic is over, and among those ages 55 and older, 30% said so.

When divided along regions of the country, 31% of residents in both the South and the Midwest said the pandemic is over while 69% said it’s not. In the Northeast, 23% said it’s over, and in the West, 28% said it’s over.

Will life return to normal?

Respondents in general reported dealing with fewer coronavirus-related disruptions to their lives, Gallup found.

Fifty-three percent said their lives are being disrupted or affected “not much” or “not at all” by the pandemic. That’s up from 48% in May and 44% in April.

Still, 47% said their lives are being disrupted or affected “a great deal” or a “fair amount” — but that’s down from 52% in May and 56% in April.

Meanwhile, 15% of respondents said their lives are “completely back to normal” while 62% said their lives are “somewhat back to normal but not completely normal” and 23% said their lives are “not yet back to normal.”

But Americans who didn’t say their lives are completely back to normal were divided on whether they think they ever will be.

Forty-six percent said they believe their lives will get back to how they were before the pandemic, while 40% said they think their lives will never fully return to normal, the poll found.

“Among those who expect their lives to return to normalcy, slightly more (53%) think it will not come until sometime in 2022 or after that, while 47% anticipate normalcy in the next few weeks or months,” Gallup says.

Additionally, more Americans now say they think it’s better for healthy people to “lead their normal lives as much as possible” than to stay home “to avoid contracting or spreading COVID-19.”

Gallup found 65% think it’s better to lead normal lives and 35% think it’s better to stay home. That’s compared to 55% and 45% in May, respectively.