A recent survey conducted by Ipsos MORI shows that as many as third of US citizens do not plan to be vaccinated against coronavirus, in the event a vaccine becomes available.
BusinessInsider notes that these findings echo the results obtained by other surveys conducted by different polling companies over the past months.
Only 35% of respondents in this latest poll, commissioned by the World Economic Forum, said they “strongly agreed” with the statement: “If a vaccine for Covid-19 were available, I would get it.” Another 32% said they “somewhat agreed.”
When asked to explain their reluctance to be vaccinated, the reason cited by most was concern regarding potential side effects (60%). Around a third (37%) said they did not believe any vaccine would be effective, and 20% stated that they were opposed to vaccines on principle.
Ipsos MORI also surveyed 27 other countries where findings were somewhat more encouraging for vaccine scientists – only 26% of respondents on average disagreed with the poll’s statement.
Russia was the country least enthusiastic about a vaccine in the survey, despite, or perhaps because of the fact that its government purports to already have an effective vaccine that President Putin plans to mass-produce in the near future. The speed of its development and the fact that Russia has not made the results of the trials public has led to international critique regarding the vaccine, with some scientists suggesting that a poorly-developed vaccine could be worse than no vaccine at all. 46% of survey respondents in Russia expressed their unwillingness to be vaccinated.
China ranked highest in anticipation for an effective vaccine. Only 3% of respondents said they were unlikely to get a shot; 97% answered that they would want one.
Ipsos MORI used an online survey to question 19,519 adults across 27 countries between July 24 and August 7. The margin of error for an Ipsos MORI poll of 1,000 people or more is 3.5%.