Poll: Most Americans ‘worn out’ by coronavirus-related changes, almost half ‘angry’ about them

A majority of Americans say they feel “worn out” by COVID-19-related changes they have had to make in their daily lives and nearly half say they are “angry” about them, according to a new poll taken more than a year and a half after the World Health Organization (WHO) first labeled the coronavirus a global pandemic.

The poll, conducted by Monmouth University, found that 60 percent of adults surveyed feel worn out by the pandemic and the changes they have made in their daily lives, with 36 percent saying they feel worn out “a lot,” and 24 percent saying they feel worn out “a little.”

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they do not feel worn out by such changes at all.

Additionally, the poll found that 45 percent of adults have felt angry because of the pandemic and changes they have been forced to make in their daily lives, with 24 percent saying they have felt angry “a lot,” and 21 percent saying they have felt angry “a little.”

However, the majority of respondents — 55 percent — said they do not feel angry about such changes at all. 

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they feel angry about the pandemic’s effects on their lives, with 63 percent of those on the right saying so compared with 34 percent on the left, according to the poll.

When it came to being worn out by the pandemic, however, political party did not play a role in responses. Sixty-four percent of Republicans said they feel at least a little worn out by pandemic-related changes, while 63 percent of Democrats said the same.

The new poll numbers come as the U.S. is in its 22nd month of living with COVID-19 after the WHO declared the virus a global pandemic in March 2020.

Since then, Americans have dealt with economic turmoil, lockdowns, remote education and work and mask mandates, among other impacts.

Monmouth University found significant overlap between those feeling — or not feeling — worn out and angry about how the pandemic had impacted their lives: 36 percent of Americans who were polled reported feeling both worn out and angry, while on the opposite side of the spectrum, 30 percent said they felt neither worn out nor angry.

Another 25 percent said they felt worn out but not angry, and 9 percent said they felt angry but not worn out.

The poll surveyed 808 adults in the U.S. between Dec. 2 and Dec. 6. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.