AP Photo/John Minchillo
Mass transit riders wear masks as they commute in the financial district of lower Manhattan, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in New York. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, Fla., on April 18, 2022, voided the national travel mask mandate as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold.
The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to that requirement that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56% of Americans favor requiring people on planes, trains and public transportation to wear masks, compared with 24% opposed and 20% who say they’re neither in favor nor opposed.
Interviews for the poll were conducted Thursday to Monday, shortly before a federal judge in Florida struck down the national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit. Airlines and airports immediately scrapped their requirements that passengers wear face coverings.
The Transportation Security Administration stopped enforcing the mask requirement, and the Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it will not appeal the ruling unless the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines it’s still necessary.
The poll shows a wide partisan divide on the issue. Among Democrats, 80% favor and just 5% oppose the requirement. Among Republicans, 45% are opposed compared with 33% in favor, with 22% saying neither.
Vicki Pettus, who recently moved from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Clearwater, Florida, to be near her grandchildren, said she enjoys the view of Old Tampa Bay but doesn’t like the “very lackadaisical attitude” by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, about masking. She said she will continue to wear her mask to protect against the coronavirus, including around her 55-and-older home community and on the plane when she travels to Kentucky in a few weeks.
End of public transit mask mandate sows mixed reaction
“Especially in a plane where that air is recirculating,” said Pettus, 71, an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. “I think people are really dumb not to wear their mask. But, hey, that’s their decision, and if they want to get sick that’s fine. I’m not going to.”
But Kriste Lee, who works in sales in South Florida, can’t wait to fly mask-free the next time she travels next month.
“I really wish I was on a plane when they made that announcement,” said Lee, 47. “I would have been dancing up and down the aisle.”
Story continues after list of airlines dropping mask requirements
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AP file
Delta Air Lines says it is making masks optional, and warned travelers they "may experience inconsistent enforcement during the next 24 hours as this news is more broadly communicated."
"Given the unexpected nature of this announcement, please be aware that customers, airline employees and federal agency employees -- such as TSA -- may be receiving this information at different times," the airline said.
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AP file
United Airlines said in a statement that "masks are no longer required at United on domestic flights, select international flights (dependent upon the arrival country's mask requirements) or at U.S. airports."
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AP file
Alaska Airlines similarly said face masks are now optional and asked for passengers to be considerate.
"While we are glad this means many of us get to see your smiling faces, we understand some might have mixed feelings," the airline posted on its website. "Please remember to be kind to one another and that wearing a mask while traveling is still an option."
Alaska Airlines said some of its passengers who were banned from the airline during the duration of the mask policy will continue to be prohibited from its planes.
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AP file
American Airlines said "face masks will no longer be required for our customers and team members at U.S. airports and on domestic flights."
"Please note face masks may still be required based on local ordinances, or when traveling to/from certain international locations based on country requirements," it said.
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AP file
Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, said on its website that employees and customers could "choose whether they would like to wear a mask, and we encourage individuals to make the best decision to support their personal wellbeing."
It also said it would "continue supporting the comfort of those who travel with us by offering additional layers of protection."
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JetBlue said in a tweet Monday that mask wearing will be optional within the United States. "While no longer required, customers and crewmembers may continue wearing masks in our terminals and on board our aircraft," the company tweeted.
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Photo Credit: Andrea Izzotti / Shutterstock
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions in the U.S. have shown marked signs of improvement. While the Omicron wave brought a massive spike in cases, case counts have declined rapidly since peaking in mid-January, and the latest variant saw milder effects. In light of these shifts, more states and localities have moved to relax their remaining public health restrictions, and the CDC recently announced updated guidance that relaxed recommendations on the use of masks.
The emergence of vaccines to protect against COVID-19 in late 2020 helped lay the groundwork for what some are now calling the virus’s endemic stage. An accelerated process of developing, testing, manufacturing, and distributing vaccines has allowed more than 250 million Americans to receive at least one dose since vaccines first became available. With greater protection, COVID’s risk to much of the population has been significantly reduced. For example, during the recent Omicron wave, vaccinated individuals showed far lower rates of hospitalization and death than their unvaccinated counterparts.
Data indicates that the U.S. may now be reaching a limit on its vaccinated population. The first COVID-19 vaccine doses in the U.S. were administered in December 2020. As vaccine manufacturers ramped up production and more populations became eligible to receive the vaccine in the first few months of 2021, the number of people who had received at least one dose grew quickly, peaking at more than 2.5 million first doses administered per day in early April.
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But shortly after all adults became eligible to receive a vaccine in April 2021, the daily number of first doses reported began to slow. While the cumulative number of vaccine recipients continued to grow for the remainder of 2021 and into 2022, the number has plateaued in recent weeks. This suggests that most of those who remain unvaccinated at this point are likely to stay that way.
Public health leaders have made efforts to overcome skepticism and resistance to COVID-19 vaccines, but around one quarter of the total U.S. population still have not received a dose of the vaccine. A large share of hesitation comes from concerns about the vaccine itself: according to survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 51.3% of those who are unvaccinated named concern about possible side effects as a reason, and 45.6% said they don’t trust COVID-19 vaccines.
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But the choice of whether to get vaccinated has undeniably taken on political character as well. In the same survey data, 36.3% of unvaccinated individuals named not trusting the government as one of the reasons why. Given the government’s key role in supporting the development and distribution of the vaccines, this group will remain difficult to persuade.
Political attitudes provide some explanation for which states have a lower share of residents who have received a vaccine. States in the West and Northeast, which tend to be more politically liberal, have the highest percentage of adults who have received at least one dose, led by Hawaii at 95.1%. Many of the states with lower percentages of vaccinated individuals are more conservative states in the South and Mountain West, including Wyoming (68.7%), Mississippi (69.9%), and Idaho (72.5%).
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The survey data provides more evidence for this relationship. States like Alabama and Montana have both high levels of distrust in government and high percentages of unvaccinated individuals. However, distrust in government among the unvaccinated does not perfectly map onto state vaccination rates. Even some states where high numbers of people have been vaccinated, including Oregon, Colorado, and Delaware, have large shares of unvaccinated individuals who cite not trusting the government as a reason not to receive a dose.
The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, collected in the first week of February 2022. To determine the states whose residents don’t trust the government, researchers at ChamberOfCommerce.org calculated the share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in the government as one of the reasons for not receiving or planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. In the event of a tie, the state with the higher share of unvaccinated adults who report that they will likely not get vaccinated was ranked higher.
Here are the states whose unvaccinated residents do not trust the government.
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 39.1%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 69.9%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 17.3%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 493,454
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 962,148
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 1,376,568
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 39.9%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 73.1%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 21.2%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 424,499
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 813,476
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 1,112,777
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Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 40.4%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 67.3%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 15.9%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 505,114
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 858,913
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 1,277,151
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Photo Credit: Jess Kraft / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 40.5%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 78.9%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 31.3%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 53,646
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 107,306
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 136,038
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Photo Credit: Rudy Balasko / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 40.9%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 74.7%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 21.3%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 417,793
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 796,426
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 1,066,495
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Photo Credit: photo.ua / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 41.3%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 84.1%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 16.2%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 151,739
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 314,383
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 373,794
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Photo Credit: Jim Cork / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 41.6%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 74.2%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 18.2%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 174,974
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 313,090
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 421,691
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Photo Credit: Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 41.7%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 80.8%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 11.3%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 196,091
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 410,331
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 507,523
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Photo Credit: Dave Riewe / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 42.4%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 81.6%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 12.3%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 211,575
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 421,376
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 516,695
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Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 42.9%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 65.9%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 7.9%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 26,073
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 39,685
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 60,204
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Photo Credit: Robert Crum / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 43.1%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 74.7%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 11.9%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 158,219
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 293,415
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 392,913
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Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 43.3%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 70.8%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 12.5%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 54,389
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 94,821
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 134,008
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Photo Credit: Alexey Stiop / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 44.2%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 77.8%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 17.9%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 253,489
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 462,058
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 593,736
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Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 51.6%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 85.6%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 21.7%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 88,743
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 153,472
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 179,274
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Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Share of unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 51.7%
- Share of unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 75.3%
- Share of adults who are unvaccinated: 22.8%
- Total unvaccinated adults who cited distrust in govt.: 418,404
- Total unvaccinated adults who likely won’t get vaccinated: 635,795
- Total adults who are unvaccinated: 844,199
The continued support among Americans overall for mandating masks on transportation comes even as worries about COVID-19 are among their lowest points of the past two years. Just 20% now say they’re very or extremely worried that they or a family member will be infected. That’s down slightly since 25% said the same just a month ago and from 36% in December and January as the omicron variant was raging. Another 33% now say they are somewhat worried, while 48% say they’re not worried at all.
Count Betty Harp, of Leitchfield, Kentucky, as among the “very worried” and not because she’s turning 84 next month. She said she takes care of her large house and yard by herself, does a lot of canning and is in “fantastic health for my age.” But she’s lost a lot of friends and family to the virus, which has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States.
“I know COVID is still here. It’s still around,” said Harp, who described herself as a Republican-leaning independent. “I think we should all be wearing masks for a little while longer.”
In another AP-NORC poll conducted last month, 44% of Americans still said they were often or always wearing face masks outside their homes, though that was down significantly from 65% who said that at the beginning of the year.
The latest poll also shows about half of Americans favor requiring masks for workers who interact with the public, compared with about 3 in 10 opposed. Support is similar for requiring people at crowded public events such as concerts, sporting events and movies to wear masks.
On these, too, there are significant partisan divides. Seventy-two percent of Democrats favor requiring people attending crowded public events to wear masks, while among Republicans, 25% are in favor and 49% are opposed. The numbers are similar for requiring masks for public-facing workers.
Lee, who said she doesn’t “do politics,” wondered aloud why people are complaining about the judge’s ruling and said nobody is stopping anyone from wearing masks if they want to.
“We all have our beliefs and obviously different views,” said Lee, who is unvaccinated. “Mine are definitely different from the people who are angry and upset.”
Employed Americans are divided on whether people working in person at their own workplaces should be required to wear masks. Thirty-four percent say they’re in favor of that requirement, 33% are opposed and 33% are neither in favor nor opposed. Among workers who are Democrats, 48% are in favor and 18% are opposed. Among workers who are Republicans, 53% are opposed and 18% are in favor.
Mike Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said messaging over the mask mandate would have been more effective if it required N95 or KN95 respirators, which are more effective at preventing transmission of the virus.
“But you have actually created a real challenge with yourself with the public who are now being selective if not outright angry about these mandates,” said Osterholm, who added that he will continue to wear his N95 mask on planes.
