How you read the results of a new Siena College poll really comes down to whether you’re a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full type of person. The good news is that an overwhelming percentage of New Yorkers—some 69 percent—plan on getting the two-shot COVID-19 vaccination. Another 27 percent, however, responded that they do not plan on getting vaccinated.
The other key takeaway is that 55 percent of New Yorkers believe that the worst of the pandemic is still yet to come, while 31 percent say that it’s already passed. “Unlike some issues that divide New Yorkers by partisanship, geography or race, this question doesn’t,” noted Steven Greenberg, Siena College pollster. “A majority of between 50 and 61 percent of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, upstaters, downstaters, black, latino and white voters all think the worst of the pandemic is still in front of us.”
Overall, though, the majority of New Yorkers have expressed hope for the year to come. Some 57 percent of voters, when asked to consider all that’s happened in the last year, are optimistic about America as they look forward to 2021 (15 percent being “very optimistic”), compared to 37 percent who are pessimistic (16 percent being “very pessimistic”).
This Siena poll was conducted January 10-13, 2021, among 804 New York State registered voters, with 504 voters contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode and 300 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel of New Yorkers.
