COVID is back. Is America tired?

Earlier this year, Americans seemed to agree that COVID-19 was “over.” This summer saw a surge in travel as concern with public health dropped to new lows since the onset of the pandemic.

But a new uptick of COVID-19 cases, driven largely by the spread of new COVID variants, complicated things. Around three and a half years after the initial onset of the pandemic in the U.S., where do Americans stand when it comes to COVID-19?

Below are five charts on the state of COVID-19 and how Americans feel about the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.

1. Summer spike. Though a far cry from its heights in 2021 and 2022, new COVID-19 hospitalizations saw a spike in the summer in part due to the spread of new variants. How has that affected Americans’ concern with COVID-19?
2. COVID-19 comeback. Concern with COVID-19 seems to rise and fall with cases and hospitalizations. Heading into the summer, a majority of Americans felt that the COVID-19 pandemic was over. This summer’s surge complicated things.
3. Interest in the new vaccine is (relatively) low. Only half of all Americans are concerned with the spread of COVID-19 or are interested in the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. Similar to how it fared throughout most of the pandemic, interest in the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine is starkly divided along party lines. Two Americas persist around the pandemic: one red, one blue; one vaxxed, and one less so.
4. Booster uptake. Although the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine has only been available for a few weeks, just 21% of the adult U.S. population has received the new COVID-19 vaccine thus far. And with only about half of Americans interested in the new booster, it seems unlikely uptake of the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine will rival earlier COVID-19 vaccines. What does this mean for the spread of COVID-19 as we look ahead to the fall and winter?
5. What’s driving hesitancy around the vaccine? It’s not so simple. Some aren’t getting boosted because they feel the vaccines themselves are dangerous. Pandemic fatigue may also be at play here: combined, just under one in three Americans says they aren’t interested in the vaccine mainly because they have already had COVID-19 or because they feel previous vaccinations give them enough protection.

A new COVID-19 vaccine is here, but a sizable chunk of America isn’t that interested. Part of it is partisanship, part of it is vaccine hesitancy, while other Americans just don’t think they need the new vaccine.

A majority of Americans don't believe America is prepared to deal with another pandemic or widespread health crisis. If a more serious COVID-19 surge were to happen, especially heading into this holiday travel season, would the current apathy around COVID-19 and vaccines hold?