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Covid attitudes memo, week 41
> As death toll hits 100,000, 1 in 8 have lost a friend or family member to Covid
> Rising vaccine willingness; challenges remain
> Britain had its unhappiest week since March, but lockdown blues are not evenly distributed
https://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CovidAttitudes41.BritishFuture.pdf
> As death toll hits 100,000, 1 in 8 have lost a friend or family member to Covid
> Rising vaccine willingness; challenges remain
> Britain had its unhappiest week since March, but lockdown blues are not evenly distributed
https://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CovidAttitudes41.BritishFuture.pdf
Deaths from Covid are now over 100,000. (Confirmed by interaction across several measures/methods). YouGov found 13% know a friend or family member who has died with Covid, while a quarter of us know somebody who was seriously ill.
Footnote: some people wonder if died within 28 days of a + test might over-count (eg, get knocked over by bus) .Evidence is this measure under-counted in Spring 2020 & Covid is cause in 93% of cases. Various measures show 100k dying *of* Covid = accurate https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1354142412193599489
The Prime Minister, party leaders and newspapers across the media spectrum treated the 100,000 statistic as a sombre milestone. Overall, 1/4 of people agreed that the government had done all it reasonably could - but 2/3 did not agree. Conservative voters were evenly split.
Asked to make a binary choice, the public continue to think the general public hold more responsibility than the government - with partisan and age divides on this
A wide generational split on whether the government has done all that it reasonably could - with 4/10 over 65s, but only 2/10 of the under-50s and 1/10 of young adults.
Appetite to take the vaccine continues to rise, from a high base. The ONS here combine those who have had it with those who say they would be likely to have it - with a shift from 80% to 90% pro-vaccine sentiment since December.
ONS report
7% of people had vaccine (at least 1st dose)
5% more offered + accepted an appointment
1% had been offered vaccine and refused.
Implies roughly 12:1 acceptance (93%) among early priority groups. This is age profile of willingness among those yet to be offered it.
7% of people had vaccine (at least 1st dose)
5% more offered + accepted an appointment
1% had been offered vaccine and refused.
Implies roughly 12:1 acceptance (93%) among early priority groups. This is age profile of willingness among those yet to be offered it.
Ipsos-Mori capture a significant international rise, January versus December, with "strongly agree" surging especially strongly in the UK. France had 55% wanting the vaccine, but this was rising too.
An Oxford/LSHTM study reported gaps by ethnicity and deprivation in early vaccination among the over 80s. Public messaging is rightly focused on trying to reinforce pro-vaccine norms across all groups & to avoid amplifying the sceptical view as a norm.
Why are some people hesitant? ONS again report that questions & some "wait and see" hesitancy are more common than opposition in principle. (NB: public information on the distribution of reasons across particular groups remains very sketchy indeed)
The Ipsos-Mori comparative study (14,000 sample) reports that confidence in government is a significant correlate with willingness to take a vaccine - though 6/10 who rate their government's performance as poor would take it too.
ONS latest bulletin finds a 7/10 want vaccine norm among ethnic minorities overall, but higher among mixed race and Asian than Black respondents, where "unlikely" rises to 28%. ("emerging findings based on small sample sizes for some groups" - ONS)
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandthesocialimpactsongreatbritain/29january2021
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandthesocialimpactsongreatbritain/29january2021
Again, engageable hesitancy and concerns alongside anxiety and doubts (among those who say "unlikely"). Another group are don't know, or neither likely/unlikely, which would presumably reinforce this pattern
This YouGov mood tracker shows "frustration" is now at peak levels
ONS also found that we have had Britain's unhappiest week of the pandemic. [This is the 13th-17th Jan fieldwork, reported Jan 22nd]
![ONS also found that we have had Britain's unhappiest week of the pandemic. [This is the 13th-17th Jan fieldwork, reported Jan 22nd]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Es-cqRnXEAA4B4O.png "ONS also found that we have had Britain's unhappiest week of the pandemic. [This is the 13th-17th Jan fieldwork, reported Jan 22nd]")
JLP Partners for Peston looked at the distribution of lockdown 3 anxieties and pressures.
* Socio-economic differences - lower income and being furloughed - very significant on anxiety about future.
* Living alone (-49) versus living with others (-31) has a significant effect on happiness.
* Women (-44) and men (-22) on happiness
* Living alone (-49) versus living with others (-31) has a significant effect on happiness.
* Women (-44) and men (-22) on happiness
Could things be back to normal within 6 months? Could it take more than a year? Somewhere in between? People became rather more optimistic in November, but most of us seem to be wait and see/on the fence now. (ONS)
Thanks to my colleague @jake_puddle for all of his research and tracking of attitudes for these weekly attitudes memos. Please DM @steveballinger or myself if you would like to be on the Friday email distribution list.
