As the U.S. approaches year four of battling the novel coronavirus and starts to grapple with another health crisis, monkeypox, the latest Fox News survey finds voters are more concerned about the virus that has plagued the country since 2020 than the one that has more recently taken hold.
Moreover, with the new school year just around the corner, majorities favor requiring coronavirus vaccines for teachers and students and allowing schools to require masks.
The survey, released Friday, finds 55% of voters are extremely or very concerned about the coronavirus pandemic. While that number has held relatively steady since May, it is down 17 points since January (72%) and 19 points from a record-high in September 2021 (74%).
The poll was conducted before the Centers for Disease and Control eased coronavirus restrictions on Thursday (August 6-9, 2022).
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Concern about Covid is down by double-digits across most groups, with Republicans (down 26 percentage points in concern) among the most likely to have eased their worry since last September. Conversely, Democrats are the least likely (down 10 points).
Ominous sounding variants are less likely to move the dial for voters, as under half are concerned about monkeypox (45%), while a majority 54% are not.
Parents are less concerned about coronavirus since last fall (57% concerned vs. 72% in September 2021) and are even less likely to worry about monkeypox (53% concerned).
And as students return to school, parents are against requiring Covid vaccinations for their kids by a 9- point margin (45% favor vs. 54% oppose), but support teachers being vaccinated by 17 points (58-41%). Almost two-thirds (63%) support schools being allowed to require masks.
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Dads (50%) are more likely than moms (41%) to support vaccinations for kids, while moms (59%) are slightly more likely than dads (56%) to want teachers to get the jab. Moms (65%) are 4 points more likely than dads (61%) to be okay with requiring masks in schools.
Democrats overwhelmingly support the three school measures (over three-quarters support each) while Republicans are over it (no proposal gains over 42% support).
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Overall, six in 10 favor requiring teachers to get vaccinated (62%), and schools being allowed to require masks for everyone (60%), while just over half prefer requiring students to get vaccinated (52%) -- up from 48% in November 2021.
Meanwhile, few voters list Covid-19 as the most important issue for their congressional vote this fall: only 3% offer it as their top voting priority. At 41%, inflation runs away with that title, with abortion running in a distant second at 14%.
Conducted August 6-9, 2022, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,002 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a national voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
