Poverty & Unemployment More Worrisome Than Covid

When the incredibly fast spread of the coronavirus forced numerous countries around the world into their first of many lockdowns in March 2020, Covid not only dominated the headlines but was also what worried people around the world the most by a considerable margin. Now, only 28 percent of participants in a worldwide survey by Ipsos see the virus as the most pressing issue. As our chart shows, it is most likely to fall even further in the ranking of top worldwide concerns.

Even though the Omicron variant first detected in southern African countries was classified as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization (WHO), survey participants still see poverty and unemployment as more relevant issues to tackle, with both issues slowly rising towards their pre-pandemic levels. When taking a closer look at the numbers, certain countries stand out concerning their worries about the continuing pandemic. As expected, the nations pointing out the coronavirus as their main concern are the ones that recently struggled with the fight against the pandemic or are still experiencing the effects of the earlier virus waves, among them Japan, the UK, the U.S. and Australia, which recently announced that it wouldn't resort to lockdowns even with the threat of the Omicron variant on the horizon.

Israel, on the other hand, saw a decline in worry about Covid by 14 percent month-to-month which is probably related to the country's strict vaccination regime. As of now, around 43 percent of residents have received their third shot. While the number itself is impressive, it also shows the stark difference between vaccine deployment in the Global North and the Global South. In more than 20 African countries, for example, the share of fully vaccinated people is below five percent, calling into question the need to prioritize booster shots for a privileged few over general innoculation for the majority of the world.