Most Americans are concerned about new variants of the COVID-19 virus, but Democrats are more concerned than others, and place more trust in vaccines to protect against the disease.
Medical experts are writing about the growing phenomenon of COVID-19 phobia. The following is from a study review published in April 2021 by Società Editrice Universo in Italy:
Fear of disease or “Nosophobia” is a type of psychological disorder in which a person is afraid of getting a particular disease. People with this type of fear, even if they do not have any specific physical symptom, are constantly worried about being infected by a perilous disease. If anxiety about the disease is so severe, it could disrupt a person’s daily life so that the person could be said to be suffering from degrees of Nosophobia.
The fear of disease disorder is higher than normal currently, because of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, they write:
The risk of developing this disorder is higher in the current situation, when we are facing a coronavirus pandemic. Mood characteristics can be the cause and the controller of this disorder. Groups of people at the risk of such disorder are: 1) Nervous people (self-critical, introverted, and narcissistic) and those who are sensitive to the events happen around; 2) People that do not easily ignore life issues so that anything can be a problem for them; 3) people who are very interested in processing matters; and 4) individuals with very low tolerance thresholds.
A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 58% of American Adults are at least somewhat concerned about new variants of the COVID-19 virus, such as Delta and Omicron, including 28% who are Very Concerned.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) are not concerned about COVID-19 variants, including 16% who are Not At All Concerned. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Surveys have shown partisan divisions in opinions about the coronavirus ever since the pandemic emerged in early 2020. Far more Democrats (77%) than Republicans (45%) are now concerned about new COVID-19 variants. Those totals include 42% of Democrats who say they’re Very Concerned about new variants of the virus, compared to just 18% of Republicans.
Among those unaffiliated with either major party, 50% are concerned about new COVID-19 variants, including 22% who are Very Concerned.
From Rasmussen Reports
