Americans are increasingly worried about the COVID-19 pandemic and supportive of mask and vaccine requirements to slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to a Fox News poll released Sunday. A solid majority of respondents said they support requiring teachers and students to wear masks (67 percent), and a narrower 56 percent back requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to require their workers to be vaccinated or get tested weekly. Support for other mask and vaccine mandates fall between those two numbers.
Two-thirds of parents said masks are effective and teachers and students should wear them, and 53 percent said teachers should be required to get vaccinated.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
President Biden's overall job approval rating fell to 50 percent in the poll, down from 53 percent in August. The respondents backed many of Biden's pandemic policies — the vaccine mandate for federal workers, for example, and support for requiring teachers and students to wear masks. And by a 56-39 margin, respondents supported a bill "that would allocate an additional $3.5 trillion toward infrastructure, including spending to address climate change, health care, and childcare," which describes the Biden-backed bill Democrats are trying to pass in Congress. But Afghanistan was a drag on his approval rating.
The Fox News poll was conducted Sept. 12-15 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), which surveyed 1,002 registered voters nationwide via landlines and cellphones. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is ±3 percentage points.
-
October 8 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include evidence* of what causes autism, Donald Trump's enemy within and a CBS sacrifice
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston MartinIn the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the riseThe Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
Why are autism rates increasing?The Explainer Medical experts condemn Trump administration’s claim that paracetamol during pregnancy is linked to rising rates of neurodevelopmental disorder in US and UK
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defectsThe Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
