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The vast majority of Marylanders surveyed in a new Goucher College poll had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but were split as to when they think Maryland will be able to return to a pre-pandemic normal.
Among respondents to the poll released Wednesday, 78% said they had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That鈥檚 a dramatic increase from the 19% who said they鈥檇 gotten at least one shot in a Goucher poll conducted in March when vaccines were slowly becoming available to adults younger than 65.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 85.9% of Maryland鈥檚 adult population had received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to a data tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 9% of respondents in the Goucher poll 鈥� conducted Oct. 14 through Oct. 20 鈥� said they would 鈥渄efinitely not鈥� get the vaccine, 5% said they will wait and see how it鈥檚 working, 2% said they will only get the vaccine if it is required, and 1% said they would 鈥済et it as soon as they can.鈥�
The poll of 700 Marylanders was conducted by telephone and 84% of those were mobile. The margin of error is 3.7 percent.
As to when they expect that 鈥淢arylanders will be able to fully return to their normal, pre-COVID lives,鈥� 29% said they expect it will take more than a year.
Almost as many, 28%, said it will happen within the next year.
Some were more optimistic: 15% said Maryland could reach pre-COVID normal within four to six months; 5% said within one to three months and 5% said people are already able to return to normal.
Another 16% of those surveyed said that people won鈥檛 ever be able to return to a pre-pandemic 鈥渘ormal.鈥�
Of the 78% of respondents who said they received at least one dose of the vaccine, 83% said they are likely to get a booster shot when it becomes available to them, and 15% said they are unlikely to get the booster.
About 67% of respondents who got at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine said they have limited in-person time with friends, family or acquaintances who haven鈥檛 been vaccinated.
Concern about contracting COVID has waned slightly since Goucher鈥檚 March poll. In March, 43% of respondents said they were very concerned about themselves or a close family member catching the virus, now that figure is 34%. Another 21% of respondents said they were 鈥渘ot at all鈥� concerned about themselves or a close family member contracting the virus, up from 13% in March.
Marylanders have approved of Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.鈥檚 response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, according to Goucher鈥檚 polls. In the October 2021 poll, just 10% of residents said they disapproved of the governor鈥檚 handling of COVID-19 and another 10% said they strongly disapproved.
Roughly 79% of respondents said they either approved or strongly approved of the response by Hogan (R). That figure was 82% in Goucher鈥檚 October 2020 poll and 76% in the March poll.
Of the 700 Maryland adults surveyed, 631 said they were registered voters. Of the registered voters, 56% were Democrats, 25% were Republicans, 17% were unaffiliated and 2% said they belonged to another political party, closely mirroring the state鈥檚 demographics.
The results released Wednesday are the second part of a three-part poll. The first poll results, released earlier this week, showed a slight dip in support for legalizing recreational marijuana and 68% approval rating for Hogan.
