A majority of people in the United States would resume normal economic activities if they concluded that a coronavirus vaccine was years away, according to a fresh national poll.
The “Back to Normal Barometer” survey, conducted jointly by two industry research firms, found this week that 70% of consumers are hesitant to engage in traditional economic activity because they are confident that a coronavirus vaccine (or an effective medical treatment) is just around the corner — and they are willing to alter their lifestyles and endure hardship for a relatively short period of time.
However, the poll discovered that 62% of people would resume pre-pandemic economic behavior if they believed that a coronavirus vaccine or treatment would not be accessible for several years. These findings suggest that the economic malaise caused by COVID-19 is due in part to a strong faith that vaccines and therapeutics are mere months away — a belief stoked by the pharmaceutical industry and politicians in both parties.
“At some point, a segment of the most hesitant consumers would get fed up with quarantining and reengage. But it would take the unhappy expectation of a far-distant medical breakthrough to animate them,” said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, one of the three firms, along with the Sports and Leisure Research Group and ROKK Solutions, a Washington, D.C., public relations firm, that conducted the survey.
Among the 62% of “highly-reluctant consumers” who would end self-imposed quarantines and economic lockdowns if they learned that a vaccine was years away, 8% would be inclined to resume normal activities in the next three months if it appeared that a medical breakthrough was years away.
Additionally, another 13% would probably reengage in traditional economic behavior before the end of the calendar year, with 28% doing so by the end of March next year and 13% doing so by the end of June. The online poll of 540 people, conducted this month, has a margin of error of 4.22 percentage points.
“We are now seeing some of the most reluctant Americans approaching a breaking point, is an intriguing finding that we’ll continue to watch,” said Jon Last, president of the Sports and Leisure Research Group.
The coronavirus continues to be a major point of contention between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, with the incumbent arguing that the U.S. is on the verge of eliminating the pandemic and the Democratic nominee charging that the administration is making matters worse by failing to take the crisis seriously.
