If Americans have learned anything during the pandemic, it’s that there are more Greek letters than just those adorning mansions and beer (and other) bongs along Frat Row. While so many of us pledged Plz End the Pandemic ASAP in 2020, the very uncool pledge this year is Omicron.
The latest COVID variant is extremely well known as 87% of Americans have already heard of it and most are not taking it lightly. Eighty-percent are at least a little bit afraid, but those who received the one-dose J&J vaccine are significantly more afraid than all other vaccine recipients. Meanwhile, unvaccinated Americans — the ones at greatest risk — are shrugging off the latest variant as if the coffee cake were the highlight of their grandma’s funeral.
In what we hope is the biggest hivemind prediction miss of the still-young millenium, more than half of Americans expect new stay-at-home orders, despite President Biden’s pledge not to impose a new national lockdown. Sixty-four percent of Americans under 30 anticipate lockdowns — which might just be a sign that reintegrating back into society was never the plan for the generation that has made social anxiety one of the most en vogue mental health issues.
