"That’s surprisingly low given the transmissibility of omicron," she said.
Brenan said state laws preventing businesses and schools from enforcing mask mandates could factor into some people's decision to not mask up.
“If masks aren’t mandated, you’re going to have a significant proportion of the population who are just not going to do it," she said.
Vaccination rates 'hit a wall'
The percentage of Americans who say they will get vaccinated has remained steady since Sept. 2021, despite an increase in the percentage of unvaccinated Americans who say they are worried about contracting the virus.
“I feel like maybe we’ve hit a wall with how many people are willing to be vaccinated," Brenan said.
Brenan said there was "some movement" between Aug. and Sept., or during the delta surge, in the percentage of Americans who said they would be vaccinated. But during omicron, rates have been "exactly the same."
Political polarization persists
The new data showed that there was a bipartisan uptick in worry about the coronavirus, but the trend was about twice as strong for Democrats as it was for Republicans — another example of the partisan divide that has long defined America's pandemic response.
Masking and vaccination status continue to "diverge sharply" along political lines, the report said, with 94% of Democrats and 65% of Independents reporting masking in the past week, compared to 48% of Republicans.
Brenan said she'd "never seen" anything close to the level of political polarization shown in different data like rates for using masks and vaccines, which have consistently revealed intense political polarization throughout the pandemic.
As attitudes continue to shift, as they may when omicron cases wane, Brenan said she's waiting to see if Americans will "look over their shoulder" in fear of the next possible variant, or whether they'll "let themselves feel more optimistic."
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