TAMPA, Fla. — It’s now officially been three years since COVID-19 shutdowns started across the country.
In that time, a lot has changed and attitudes about the pandemic have shifted.
That’s why researchers with the University of South Florida recently conducted a nationwide survey to check in with people on how they feel about COVID-19.
“One important finding we got from the survey is that only 10% of respondents think that COVID-19 is still high risk,” said Dr. Feng Hao, Associate Professor of Sociology at USF.
The survey also found that misinformation about vaccines is still widespread and that one-third of Americans are still not confident in the safety of COVID-19 shots.
“We found out only 50% of respondents think the children’s vaccine is effective, is safe, and is necessary,” said Hao.
As researchers continue to track people’s attitudes, health officials keep watching the numbers — although it’s been difficult to get an accurate picture of cases because of at-home tests.
“So I look to wastewater data. And if we look, since the beginning of 2023, by and large we’re seeing decreases in the extent to which COVID-19 is spreading in our communities,” said Dr. Jason Salemi, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at USF.
Hospitalizations across the state have gone down. Overall, when looking at the data, there’s been a continued decrease in severe illness. Experts said all of this is a sign of progress and built-up immunity.
“Even though people are still certainly getting COVID-19, the extent to which we’re seeing severe illness thus far this year is just way lower and hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come,” said Salemi.
With each wave and variant, there’s been less severe illness.
“I think barring something big— like a new variant that’s got very different characteristics, it looks like this is the direction that we’re heading in,” said Salemi.
Doctors stress that could change though if people don't continue to get boosters as new shots come out.
“Because although we’re looking pretty good right now, the immunity that we’ve built up from vaccination and prior infection, that will not last forever. So we need to be mindful of how to best respond over time,” he added.
Experts warn even though numbers are low right now, COVID-19 still exists and people are still dying.
“We’ve got a lot immunocompromised individuals in our communities. People in whom the vaccine, they’re non-responsive to the vaccine. Still got a lot of older people with comorbidities. So a lot of high-risk groups that even though the numbers are looking good overall, there are still a lot of people that if they were to get COVID-19 are likely to not fair very well,” said Salemi.