As we approach the official start of the COVID pandemic shutdowns, in 2020, there are some stark and lingering impacts from it.
As a report by Axios this week puts it, “Five years after the COVID pandemic began, its legacy is as much political as epidemiological.”
Trust in public health institutions and leaders is down, and there is a split among those who lean left and those who lean right when it comes to vaccines.
In this Axios poll, Dr Anthony Fauci, who became a political target during the pandemic, trusted by nearly three-fourths of Democrats and half of independents….but only one out of ten Republicans.
Nearly two-thirds in this poll say they think the shutdowns in 2020 were necessary to save lives with nearly 40 percent of people saying they knew someone who died after getting COVID.
But close to 60 percent say the shutdowns caused unnecessary harm to the economy.
And maybe most disturbing, now a little over five years after the coronavirus first came along, two-thirds of Americans say the country is not well prepared to combat another pandemic or a major health crisis.
Despite the political differences, we should all want to work together to do something about that.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images