A survey overseen by the Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP) shows that 71.5% of participants would be very or somewhat likely to take a vaccine
The VCP is a global surveillance programme on vaccine trust funded by the European Commission and some pharmaceutical companies, and the survey here was conducted back in June with more than 13,000 participants from 19 countries.
The 19 countries surveyed are said to be among the top 35 countries affected by the pandemic in terms of cases per million population.
Anyway, the results show that 71.5% of participants would be very or somewhat likely to take a coronavirus vaccine but they would be less likely to accept one – only 61.4% – if it were mandated/recommended by their employers instead.
That said, the response by country presents some polarising opinions about a vaccine.
Almost 90% of participants in China said they would accept a vaccine, whereas in France the positive response rate is only 59% with the US and UK observing a 75% and 71% positive response rate respectively.
I would argue that this tells us little about the mood in the world now as the situation in June is far from how things are panning out currently. Coronavirus fatigue is real and a second wave is dawning upon Europe. It’s going to be a terrible winter everywhere.
All of that will play into considerations about a vaccine if and when the time comes.
However, the survey above also highlights some caution and hesitancy to trust any early ‘breakthroughs’ and that is part of human nature.
Russia’s vaccine story is a prime example of that and if anything, it also tells us that any positive progress from a medical perspective will need to be translated to a practical one where everybody in the world can have access to the vaccine in a timely manner.
