Regular testing for COVID-19 is quickly becoming a pillar of living through the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration announced a sweeping vaccine mandate last week for workers in the federal government, healthcare, and private businesses with over 100 employees. And, for those who are exempt from receiving the coronavirus vaccine, weekly COVID-19 testing is required. Knowing your health status is undeniably important for participation in the new normal, so CivicScience polled Americans on their interest and trust in at-home testing as it grows in availability.
The majority of respondents report that they have some level of trust in the accuracy of at-home COVID testing, though the percentage of those who have total trust is far smaller.
Concern about the coronavirus Delta variant definitely plays a role in how trusting people feel toward at-home COVID-19 testing. In fact, trust over-indexes with folks who are very concerned about Delta. More than half of people who aren’t concerned about the variant say they wouldn’t trust an at-home COVID-19 test.
More than two-thirds of participants claim they are highly unlikely to purchase an at-home COVID test for their own use.
When compared with trust in the accuracy of at-home testing, the likelihood to buy correlates significantly with very high trust in the results. What’s important to note is the likelihood to buy plummets among those who only somewhat trust test accuracy meaning the viable market for purchasing test kits is almost entirely restricted to the small group of those who are extremely confident in the at-home test results.
Vaccinations seem to be the preferred method of coronavirus mitigation measures in the workplace, though one-quarter of respondents consider at-home testing to be a viable alternative.
While COVID-19 testing is becoming an increasingly routine part of pandemic life, it seems as though it may still be a while before Americans begin to stock up and utilize at-home testing for themselves.
