Only 59% of Americans say the pandemic is over, 5 years later

WASHINGTON - Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic forced nationwide closures of businesses and school, only about three in five Americans say the pandemic is over.

59% of Americans say COVID-19 pandemic is over

By the numbers:

According to the data, a majority of Americans, 59%, said they think the pandemic is over, but 41% think it is not. These readings are unchanged from Gallup’s last update one year ago.

In addition, nearly half of U.S. adults, 47%, reported that their life is completely back to the normal that existed before the pandemic, while 13% said they expect to eventually return to pre-pandemic normalcy and 40% said they think life will never get back to normal.

Customers wear face masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus as they line up to enter a Costco Wholesale store April 16, 2020 in Wheaton, Maryland. (Credi: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

When it comes to their current feelings about catching COVID-19, one in five Americans continue to say they are worried, but relatively few say they are wearing a mask regularly. About half of U.S. adults say they have received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past six months or plan to get one soon.

72% reported contracting COVID-19

The backstory:

Gallup has tracked Americans’ perceptions of whether the pandemic is over in the U.S. since June 2021, during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. 

In late May and early June 2023, after then-President Joe Biden signed a congressional resolution to end the nation’s state of emergency and the U.S. and global public health emergency declarations ended, a majority (64%) said the pandemic was over. Fewer, though still a slim 53% majority, continued to believe it had ended in late August and early September 2023.

As has been the case since Gallup’s first reading in 2021, Republicans were more likely than independents and Democrats to say the pandemic was over. 

Currently, 79% of Republicans, 61% of independents and 43% of Democrats think the pandemic has ended. These readings are on par with last year’s, according to the findings.

More than seven in 10 U.S. adults, 72%, reported having contracted COVID-19 at some point since 2020, while 28% say they have never had it.