(reverent orchestral music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

Washington isn't as optimistic about the future as it was six months ago, even as more are choosing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A new Crosscut/Elway Poll finds that only 46% of Washington voters surveyed said they expect things to go well in the US in the coming year, compared to 54% in a previous December poll.

In this most recent poll, a larger share of survey respondents, 50%, said they expected things to get worse.

The numbers reveal sharp partisan divides.

78% of Democrats said they feel things will get better over the next year, compared to only 16% of Republicans.

The poll also suggests that vaccine hesitancy is dwindling.

Back in April, 19% of poll respondents said they would not get the vaccine, while 10% were undecided.

Recently, 13% said they won't get vaccinated and only 4% were undecided.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.

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