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In this file photo, health care workers prepare an ICU room at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., on March 30, 2021.
A
Gallup poll released this week found that Americans, by in large, overestimate
COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates.
Survey results suggest that "most Americans overstate the risk of hospitalization" for both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals. Roughly 92 percent "overstate the risk that unvaccinated people will be hospitalized," while 62 percent overstated the risk for vaccinated individuals, Gallup wrote in a blog post.
The poll found that 41 percent of registered Democrats believe that there's a 50 percent chance that an unvaccinated individual will go the hospital for COVID-19, while 21 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of independents believe the same.
Gallup said that under different scenarios and calculations,
fewer than 1 percent of both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated COVID-19 cases result in hospital stays. The company cited data from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its conclusion.
"Democrats are more likely to overstate hospitalization risks for unvaccinated people, which may fuel efforts, often led by Democratic Party leaders, to enforce both mask and vaccine mandates," the pollster wrote.
"At the same time, Republicans overstate risks to vaccinated people, leading to very low vaccine efficacy estimates. This may be one of the reasons that so many Republicans have been reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine."
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