Cliff’s Take: Some Americans Are Ready To Dive Back In

The long COVID winter – will it ever end? 57 million doses of the vaccine have been administered so far; Biden promised that it will be available to all Americans by the end of July this year. Herd immunity via the vaccine? We think so. Back to normal? Not so sure.

The Biden administration's primary task is to push forward on the COVID relief agenda – all eyes are on him for a solution. So far, pretty good.  But we will see.

Below are the most relevant data points of the week.

1. Throwing caution to the winds? What is our collective approach to danger? Do we throw caution to the winds, or wait to see how things play out? Well, a bit of both. Some of us are ready to boldly go into the COVID world, virus or no virus. Others plan to wait for the braver among us to go first and only a toe dip initially.

2. Infrastructure week forever? In the meantime, Texas' infrastructure challenges are distracting us a bit from our COVID worries. We all know that tackling our nation’s aging systems is a universally popular idea. This has always been the agenda to find common ground. It is good for the economy; good for jobs; and good for America.

3. Holding his own. Biden maintains his approval numbers. Not quite a month has passed since Inauguration Day but still impressive in our partisan times. What are the key drivers of Biden's ratings?

4. Biden's lynchpins. The economy and COVID are America's primary concerns; these issues are also where America has placed its greatest hopes in Biden. Look at the data. Biden's key pillars but also his greatest vulnerabilities.  He is stronger on COVID; weaker on the economy. He will need both for long-term approval success.

5. COVID decoupling? On the economic front, we are getting mixed signals. As unemployment declines, consumer confidence remains relatively flat. Strange orthogonality. What accounts for this? COVID; tribalism; the wealth gap, or some combination of these? Not sure but interesting.

Let’s focus on the positives this week. The progress on vaccines really is something to celebrate. July might seem distant now, but we’re much further along than many could have imagined even just six months ago.

As always, be safe, be sane.

For more information, please contact:

Clifford Young
President, U.S.
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2016
[email protected]

For more information on COVID-19 please click here

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