Globally, Three In Four Adults Say They’d Get A Vaccine For COVID-19

Most do not expect any COVID-19 vaccine will be available before the end of the year; fear of side effects is the top reason for not wanting to take the vaccine.

In a new Ipsos survey of nearly 20,000 adults from 27 countries on behalf of the World Economic Forum, 74% say they would get a vaccine for COVID-19 if it were available. However, 59% do not expect this will be an option before the end of this year. The reason was most commonly given by those who would not get a vaccine is to worry about side effects (56%) followed by doubt about its effectiveness (29%).

Intentions to get vaccinated against COVID-19

Globally, 74% of all adults surveyed agree that “if a vaccine for COVID-19 were available, I would get it”. However, only 37% strongly agree while 37% somewhat agree. Overall, 26% disagree (15% somewhat disagree and 12% strongly disagree).

In most countries, those who agree outnumber those who disagree by a significant margin (more than 50 percentage points in 12 out of 27 countries).

The countries where Covid-19 vaccination intent is highest are: China (97%), Brazil (88%), Australia (88%), and India (87%)

Those where it is lowest are Russia (54%), Poland (56%), Hungary (56%), and France (59%).

An expectation that a COVID-19 vaccine will be available this year

Across all 27 countries, 59% disagree that “a vaccine for COVID-19 will be available to me before the end of 2020” (23% strongly and 36% somewhat) while the other 41% agree (9% strongly and 31% somewhat).

Again, China stands out for its optimism, with 87% of those surveyed expecting a vaccine will be ready this year. The agreement is also high in Saudi Arabia (75%) and India (74%).

By contrast, scepticism prevails in Germany, Belgium, Japan, and Poland where fewer than one in four adults anticipate that a vaccine will be available at some point in the next four months.
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Reasons for not taking a vaccine

The nearly 5,000 adults surveyed who do not intend to take a vaccine for COVID-19 were asked why they would not do so. In every one of the 27 countries, the #1 reason is worry about the side effects, cited by 56% globally (from 70% in Spain and 68% in Sweden to 41% in Argentina and 40% in Saudi Arabia).

The second-most common reason for not wanting to take a COVID-19 vaccine is doubt about its effectiveness, cited by 29% globally (from as many as 44% in Russia and Poland to just 12% in China and 9% in Mexico).

The third most common reason is the perception of not being enough at risk from COVID-19, cited by 19% globally. Among those who are reluctant to be vaccinated, this view is most prevalent in India (37%), Malaysia (36%) and Sweden (35%), while it is least so in Italy (7%) and Brazil (10%).

General opposition to vaccines is cited by 17% of those who would not get a COVID-19 vaccine globally, but as many as 30% in Russia and Italy.

These are the results of a survey conducted by Ipsos between July 24 and August 7, 2020, on its Global Advisor online survey platform among a total of 19,519 adults, aged 18-74 in United States, Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, and Turkey, and aged 16-74 in 22 other countries.

The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals in each of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China (Mainland), France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals in each of Argentina, Chile, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, and Turkey.