Only 21% of Americans want to drop Covid restrictions

Plus: 32 Olympic athletes in Covid isolation

Across the United States, governors are lifting statewide mask mandates as Covid-19 cases decline. But it’s not entirely clear how much political support elected officials have to do this. Axios/Ipsos polling shows only 21% of Americans support dropping Covid-19 restrictions entirely right now. An equal percentage expressed a desire for stronger vaccine and mask requirements. About 23% want to keep things as they are right now while the biggest percentage–29%--wants the country to “move toward opening up, with precautions.” While there is some partisan division here, with Republicans leaning more towards eliminating restrictions entirely and Democrats leaning towards strengthening them, no position commanded a majority among either party. And 62% of those polled support state and local mask mandates, and a slim majority–51%--supports public places requiring proof of vaccination. 

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Legislation recently introduced in California would, if passed, allow teenagers to receive vaccines without obtaining parental consent. 

Shares of Pfizer fell after the company issued worse-than-expected revenue guidance for this year. 

What Else We Are Reading

• Tracking COVID-19 infections: time for change (Nature)

• For burned-out health workers, exhaustion from Covid-19 surges mixes with a sense of betrayal (Stat)

• COVID Smell Loss and Long COVID Linked to Inflammation (Scientific American)