- Only 50%, Down from 68% in June, Say Worst of Pandemic is Over
- Majorities, at Least Somewhat Comfortable, at Grocery Store, Broadway, Sporting Events, Restaurants and Back at Work
- 41% Have Had Disagreements with Family, Friends over COVID Issues; 91% Carry a Mask; 77% Say they are Vaccinated
Loudonville, NY – As they go through their day, 78 percent of New Yorkers think about protecting themselves and their family from getting COVID either some of the time (35 percent) or all of the time (43 percent) according to a new statewide survey of residents released today by the Siena College Research Institute (SCRI). Today, only 50 percent say that they think the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is over while 36 percent predict the worst is still to come compared to a more optimistic 68-17 percent in June.
At this point, majorities are at least somewhat or very comfortable going to the grocery store (91 percent), eating inside at a local restaurant (73 percent), going to work at the job they had prior to COVID (61 percent), going to a movie (57 percent), attending a professional sporting event (52 percent) and attending a Broadway show (51 percent). Forty-one percent have had disagreements recently with family or friends over issues related to COVID including vaccinations, masking or social distancing. Nearly all New Yorkers, 91 percent, carry a mask with them whenever they leave their home and 77 percent, up from 73 percent in June, are vaccinated.
“COVID concerns and decisions rest on shoulders and weigh on our minds every day” said SCRI’s Director, Don Levy. “While nearly everyone is comfortable going to the grocery store, over three-quarters think about protecting their family from getting sick some of the time and over 40 percent think about it all the time. Almost no one leaves home without a mask and four out of every ten of us have had disagreements with family and friends about COVID related issues.”
“While 77 percent say they are vaccinated, and more than half are comfortable going back to movies, live theater and sporting events, over a third, 36 percent, still think the worst is still to come,” Levy said. “Eight percent plan to get the vaccine while 10 percent, down from 15 percent in June, don’t plan to get vaccinated.”
This Siena College Poll was conducted September 29 – October 7, 2021 by random telephone calls to 394 New York adults via landline and cell phones and 403 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel of New Yorkers. Respondent sampling via phone was initiated by asking for the youngest person in the household. The overall results has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting, Telephone sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline (from ASDE Survey Sampler) and cell phone (from Dynata) telephone numbers from within New York State weighted to reflect known population patterns. Data from the telephone and web samples were blended and statistically adjusted by age, race/ethnicity, gender and party to ensure representativeness. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information or comments, please call Dr. Don Levy at 518-783-2901. Survey cross-tabulations can be found at www.siena.edu/scri.
