24 November 2020
Data: Ipsos/Axios survey; Chart: Axios Visuals
Six in 10 Americans are dialing back this year's Thanksgiving plans because of the pandemic — cutting guest lists, canceling travel or scrapping Turkey Day altogether — in the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
The big picture: This greater willingness to turn inward and exercise caution around the holidays comes amid signs of increased trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a growing confidence there will soon be a safe and effective vaccine available in the U.S.
- For the first time in our poll, more than half of Americans (51%) say they're likely to take a first-generation COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it's available. College-educated and white Americans and Democrats are driving the trend.
- 65% of respondents say they'd be likely to take a vaccine if pharmaceutical companies deemed it more than 90% effective.
- An even greater share — 70% overall (55% of Black respondents and 60% of Republicans) — say they'd take it if public health officials say it's safe and effective.
What they're saying: "They have hope," said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs. "It’s not Trump just saying something. It’s credible institutions. It’s more real now."
- "They can see the concreteness of a vaccine on the horizon," Young said. "They understand the current reality is complicated, and they're self-quarantining for Thanksgiving."
By the numbers: About two-thirds of respondents say seeing family or friends this Thanksgiving would pose a large or moderate threat, while three-fourths say traveling poses a large or moderate threat.
- 61% changed their Thanksgiving plans because of the recent spike in virus cases.
- As we've seen time and again around pandemic polling, partisan identification plays a role in behavior: Democrats (75%) are most likely to say they modified their holiday plans, followed by independents (61%) and Republicans (49%).
- Democrats were the most likely to limit gatherings to their immediate households, as opposed to simply reducing the size of the gatherings.
- About one in 10 respondents won't observe Thanksgiving at all this year.
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted Nov. 20-23 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,002 general population adults age 18 or older.
- The margin of sampling error is ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.
