NC Policy Watch: “Pollsters at Monmouth University released new national survey results yesterday on American attitudes toward mask and vaccine mandates in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The central finding: support for public mandates continues to grow.
This is from the release that accompanied the poll results:
A majority of Americans support the vaccine mandates announced by President Joe Biden last week amid rising concerns about the chance of catching COVID. According to the Monmouth University Poll, the public also supports instituting guidelines for masking and social distancing in their state as well as requiring people to show proof of vaccination for certain activities, such as boarding an airplane or going to the office. The poll finds majority support for nearly all these measures in both blue states and red states, although a significant number of people – mostly Republicans – remain opposed to getting the COVID vaccine.
Support for instituting, or reinstituting, state-based face mask and social distancing guidelines has increased in the past few months. Currently, 63% support these measures in their state, which is up from 52% in July. This shift has come mostly in blue states, which were experiencing a lull in COVID transmission early in the summer. In Monmouth’s July poll, residents of states that voted for President Joe Biden (49%) were slightly less likely than those in states that voted for former President Donald Trump (54%) to support instituting these guidelines. Now, 66% (+17 points) of blue state residents and 59% (+5 points) of red state residents support these measures. Majority support in both types of states comes even though only 32% of Republicans individually support these measures.”