LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Siena College Research Institute (SCRI) released a Special New York State COVID Crisis Poll on October 21, asking New York State residents various questions on how they feel about COVID.

According to a survey by SCRI, 78% of New Yorker residents think about protecting themselves and their families from COVID every day either some of the time (35%) or all of the time (43%). Also, 50% of residents think the worst of COVID is over and 36% think the worst has yet to come.

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Just because most people are still protecting themselves from COVID doesn’t mean they’re not leaving their homes to go to normal events. According to SCRI, these percentages of people feel at least somewhat or very comfortable leaving their homes to:

  • Goto the grocery store (91%)
  • Eat inside at a local restaurant (73%)
  • Go to work at the job they had prior to COVID (61%)
  • Go to a movie (57%)
  • Attend a professional sporting event (52%
  • Attend a Broadway show (51%)

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SCRI showed that 77% of pollers are vaccinated, 8% plan to get vaccinated, and 10% do not plan to get vaccinated. The vaccine rate with pollers has had a major increase each month throughout 2021, as 7% of pollers were vaccinated in January compared to 77% being vaccinated in October.

“COVID concerns and decisions rest on shoulders and weigh on our minds every day” said SCRI’s Director, Don Levy. “While nearly everyone is comfortable going to the grocery store, over three-quarters think about
protecting their family from getting sick some of the time, and over 40% think about it all the time. Almost no one leaves home without a mask and four out of every ten of us have had disagreements with family and friends about COVID related issues.”

“While 77% say they are vaccinated, and more than half are comfortable going back to movies, live theater and sporting events, over a third, 36%, still think the worst is still to come,” Levy said. “8% plan to get the vaccine while 10%, down from 15% in June, don’t plan to get vaccinated.”

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