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May 11, 2020 - World

Many plan to avoid planes and restaurants even after vaccine: poll

Dave Lawler

A poll of five countries — the U.S., U.K., Germany, Sweden and Japan — finds that concerns around getting sick or losing jobs are fading slightly, but realization is setting in that lives will be different even after the crisis abates.

Data: Kekst CNC; Note: Exact question wording was "Assume that a vaccine against coronavirus is eventually developed and rolled out universally. After the coronavirus crisis is over, how do you expect your own lifestyle to be different to your lifestyle before the outbreak?" Table: Axios Visuals
Data: Kekst CNC; Note: Exact question wording was "Assume that a vaccine against coronavirus is eventually developed and rolled out universally. After the coronavirus crisis is over, how do you expect your own lifestyle to be different to your lifestyle before the outbreak?" Table: Axios Visuals

What to watch: More than one-in-five people in all five countries say that even after a vaccine is available, they will be less likely to travel by plane, use public transport and eat out at restaurants, according to polling from Kekst CNC, an international strategic communications firm, shared exclusively with Axios.

More from the survey:

  • Concerns about the effects of the crisis on jobs, finances and local economies are highest in the U.S. and lowest in Sweden.

In Germany, strong government actions likely contributed to the sharp decline in economic and health fears since the firm's previous poll a month ago.

  • Germany was the only country where respondents would like to see their national leader have more influence over the national response than they currently do.

Japanese people are the least content with their government’s response, by a big margin.

  • They're also most likely to say they expect the economy to collapse and to lose their job (39% for both).

While 51% of Germans and 65% of Brits agree that the government “is giving business the support it needs,” very few Japanese (13%) people agree. Results are mixed for Americans (44%) and Swedes (40%).

  • Brits (7%) and Germans (8%) were least likely to say they’d already lost their jobs (7%), and Americans most likely (19%).
  • Brits are by far the most likely to anticipate a long struggle, with 79% expecting their country to be dealing with the crisis a year from now, compared to 43% of Americans.
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