That’s not a surprising headline, but some new polling data provides insights into that decline, which is largely along political party lines. Democrats tend to side with experts. Republicans and the MAGA crowd—when confronted with facts that conflict with their beliefs or political needs—ignore reality in favor of those beliefs and needs.

That’s why political affiliation was a risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality during the height of the Covid pandemic. People listened to this moron talk about injecting or ingesting caustic disinfectants.

More Republicans died during the pandemic in the US than did members of other political groups. It’s tempting to say, “Great. The fewer, the better.” I’m sympathetic to that notion but for the fact that on their way to the ICU or the morgue, they’re likely to have infected other, innocent people. As Dr. Alfredo Morabia, Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Public Health, pointed out in a 2023 editorial, “public health needs to be all-inclusive to succeed,” and “the response to a public health emergency is either successfully collective, or it fails.”

But therein lies the problem: the MAGA people are selfish and self-centered. It’s them—their tribe—against the rest of us. So, no masks, no quarantines, no vaccines. Prolong the epidemic. Drive up the body count. They don’t seem to care. Trump doesn’t.

It seems reckless, risking one’s life and the lives of family and friends, by not participating in a social response to a newly emergent pathogenic virus. Maybe they don’t believe in viruses. I haven’t seen a “Viruses Aren’t Real” bumper sticker*, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

Apparently, some people believe this extraordinary idea: viruses aren’t real. So, why are people saying viruses don’t exist? “The idea that viruses aren’t real and can’t be spread is sometimes referred to as terrain theory. Terrain theory is the name given to the belief that illnesses are formed within the body and are caused by things such as what we eat and do.” Sounds like something “Dr.” RFK, Jr. would say and Trump might latch onto during a future outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza. Maybe then they’ll both try that bleach cocktail.

Stay tuned.

*I have seen a “Birds Aren’t Real” bumper sticker, but that’s another story.