A huge majority of Americans oppose the idea of imposing new restrictions and mandates to address the Omicron variant of COVID-19, according to a Wednesday poll from the Trafalgar Group and Convention of States.
Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed for the poll stated that no new mandates or restrictions are necessary to address the Omicron variant, with 31.1% saying the variant is not a serious health risk and 38.3% saying that restrictions should not be imposed regardless of the variant’s risk. Just over 30% of respondents stated that Omicron is a serious health risk that warrants renewed restrictions, Trafalgar found.
“Unlike government health officials in Washington, DC, Americans have already figured out that mandates and lockdowns are not the way we will beat the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mark Meckler, President of Convention of States Action, said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller. “As we’ve seen in our polls repeatedly, the American people are tired of all this and ready to get on with their lives. The U.S. Senate finally recognized this reality this week with the bi-partisan passage of the bill to block President Biden’s illegal vaccine mandate, and we’re going to see more of this as we get closer to 2022 and elected officials fight to save their jobs.”
President Joe Biden speaks during his meeting with members of the White House Covid-19 Response Team on the latest developments related to the Omicron variant in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, December 9, 2021. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
The poll surveyed 1,084 likely general election voters between Dec. 4 and Dec. 7. and reported a 3% margin of error. Trafalgar employs a number of methods for conducting its polls, including live phone calls, automated calls, emails, text messages, and two other proprietary methods it does not share publicly. (RELATED: ‘Will Not Fix The Problem’: Biden Releasing Oil Reserves Due To Politics, Critics Say)
The Trafalgar Group was one of only two polling firms that accurately predicted Trump’s victory in the presidential election of 2016. The firm was also among the few that predicted Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ win in 2018, as well as Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia in November.
Medical experts have stated that the Omicron variant appears to be less severe than past strains of the virus, such as the Delta variant and original COVID-19. While the variant spreads rapidly, a smaller percentage of cases result in severe symptoms. Despite cases being reported all over the world for weeks, the variant only claimed its first reported death on Monday in the United Kingdom.