Omicron Variant Increases Worries and Gives Momentum to COVID-19 Booster Shots

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The emergence of the omicron COVID-19 variant is encouraging many already vaccinated adults to get a recommended booster shot but is providing only a little motivation for unvaccinated adults to get an initial shot, a new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor quick response survey finds.

Fielded from Dec. 15-20 to provide an early look at omicron’s potential impact on the public’s vaccination intentions, the survey finds that about half (54%) of vaccinated adults who haven’t gotten a booster dose say news of the omicron variant will make them more likely to do so.

Omicron’s emergence appears to be having a much smaller, but not insignificant, effect on unvaccinated adults. The survey finds that 12% of those who are unvaccinated say it makes them more likely to get an initial shot, but a much larger share (87%) say it does not make them more likely to do. CONTINUED

Kaiser Family Foundation

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Joe Biden’s Job Approval Rating Steady in December

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President Joe Biden’s job approval remains entrenched in the low 40s, having registered 42% or 43% in four separate Gallup polls since September, including 43% in a new December survey.

Biden began his term with relatively strong approval in the high 50s and stayed above the 50% mark through June. In July, when U.S. coronavirus cases surged, his approval fell to 50% and stayed at about that level in August. Then, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, it dropped to the low 40s, where it has remained since. CONTINUED

Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup

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Republicans view Reagan, Trump as best recent presidents

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When asked to name the president who has done the best job over the past 40 years, a majority of Democrats name Barack Obama. Republicans, by contrast, are divided between a president who served in the 1980s – Ronald Reagan – and the one who left office this year, Donald Trump. CONTINUED

Amina Dunn, Pew Research Center

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Biden struggles with political agenda and COVID-19, new NPR poll shows

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President Biden faces crises with his domestic agenda and the pandemic, as his approval among the public continues to falter.

Scott Detrow & Domenico Montanaro, NPR News

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Biden’s approval dips to new low as independents sour on his leadership

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As President Joe Biden heads into the end of the year, he’s facing a sour reality: The number of Americans who approve of his performance has hit a new low. Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job he has been doing as president, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. Support among independents alone dropped eight points in a week.

Overall, more than half – 55 percent – of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance, including 44 percent who strongly disapprove. His disapproval ratings have jumped 20 points since he took office, reaching a record high this month. The number who strongly disapprove jumped 6 points since a Marist poll conducted just one week earlier. CONTINUED

Matt Loffman, PBS NewsHour

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Democrats self-destructing after Manchin’s maverick move

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President Biden has no one to blame for the collapse of the Build Back Better legislation but himself. …

There was no way that Manchin could ever have supported such an expensive social-spending package, at least if he wanted to win another election in Trump-friendly West Virginia in 2024. …

There’s no way Democrats are putting this Humpty Dumpty legislation together again, despite the most idealistic spin from Democratic officials. By raising expectations so unrealistically high, Democrats now must suffer through a serious political hangover. They’re getting the worst of both worlds in the run-up to next year’s midterms: Disillusioned progressives whose hopes and dreams were dashed, along with frustrated House moderates who were forced to take a tough vote for a bill that’s now unlikely to see the light of day. CONTINUED

Josh Kraushaar, National Journal

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