Robert Baird, of Centereach, is given a booster shot at...

Robert Baird, of Centereach, is given a booster shot at Stony Brook University Research and Development Park, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost

ALBANY — A national poll finds 52% of Americans will only gather at holiday events with friends and family who have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

But the Marist College poll also found 42% of Americans will celebrate the holidays with people regardless of their vaccination status, even as infection rates soar and hospital staff and resources are stretched by the winter holiday spike of the virus.

In a starkly divided political time, even celebrating holidays with family and friends is polarized.

The poll found 79% of Democrats are among those likely to limit their holiday celebrations based on vaccine status. Only 27% of Republicans said vaccine status will factor into choosing friends and family to help celebrate the season. Americans not enrolled in a political party were split on the issue.

"These national numbers are following the pattern of whether people are vaccinated or not," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "Republicans clearly are less concerned not only about getting vaccinations for themselves, but also whether people at gatherings are vaccinated. It's very consistent and reflects the same lack of concern or interest in vaccinations."

The poll also found 57% of Americans 45 years old or older, and 56% of women, said they will limit their interactions during the holidays based on vaccination status.

The poll also found a grumpy mood.

Robert Baird, of Centereach, is given a booster shot at...

Robert Baird, of Centereach, is given a booster shot at Stony Brook University Research and Development Park, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2021. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

The percentage of Americans optimistic about the new year is the lowest in more than a decade of polling the issue by Marist College. Forty-nine percent of Americans said they were optimistic about 2022 while 47% were more pessimistic, which is a statistical tie within the poll’s margin of error.

By comparison, optimism was higher before the pandemic hit: 60% of Americans were optimistic about the coming year in surveys done in December 2018 and 2019.

The poll surveyed 1,172 adults from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

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