Many People Are Not Willing To Receive The Covid-19 Vaccine If It Is Available: Here’s Why

Some of the potential vaccines for Covid-19 are in the final stages of clinical trials and results are expected in late 2020 or early 2021. But the question is: Will you get a Covid-19 vaccine if it is available? Also read – Six countries report new coronavirus cases linked to mink farms, Denmark to kill millions of minks

If you are unsure about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, you are not alone. Results from a World Economic Forum / Ipsos global survey conducted in October revealed that vaccine hesitancy is increasing among adults around the world. Also Read – COVID-19 Live Updates: India Cases Rise to 84,62,080 While Death Toll Reaches 1,25,562

In the survey that included 18,526 adults from 15 countries, 73 percent of those surveyed said they were willing to receive a Covid-19 vaccine if it were available. While that’s still a good number, it’s down 4% compared to a similar survey conducted by WEF and Ipsos three months ago. In the previous survey, 77 percent of those surveyed had shown their willingness to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus. Also read: Tinnitus could be a prolonged COVID symptom as noise in the head and ears worsens after infection

Vaccination hesitancy increased in 10 of the 15 countries surveyed, primarily China, Australia, Spain and Brazil, according to the survey report.

Reasons for doubts about vaccines

Concern about possible side effects is one of the main reasons for doubts about vaccines, while many people also worry that clinical trials are moving too quickly.

In the WEF / Ipsos global survey, 34 percent of respondents expressed concern about side effects, while 33 percent of participants said they were concerned that clinical trials were moving too fast.

Also, 10 percent of people said the vaccine is unlikely to be effective. Some participants (10 percent) were against vaccines in general.

Concern about side effects was highest in Japan (62 percent) and China (46 percent). Concerns about rushed clinical trials were greatest in Brazil and Spain (48 percent in both). Overall opposition to vaccines was highest in South Africa (21 percent) and India (19 percent), according to the report.

This drop in vaccine confidence is a sad trend and may compromise the effectiveness of mass vaccination in controlling the disease, said Arnaud Bernaert, director of Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare, at the World Economic Forum.

Therefore, it is important that governments and the private sector work together to build trust, he said.

When a vaccine will be available for general use

Russia has already registered two possible vaccines against COVID-19 before obtaining the results of the phase III trials. One is Sputnik V developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia and the other is EpiVacCorona developed by Vector State Center for Virology and Biotechnology in Siberia.

Three Chinese vaccines are in the final stages of testing, including Sinovac, which awaits interim data for November from its phase 3 trial in Brazil.

Three Western pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca Plc. and Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc are likely to have preliminary data on their candidate vaccines before the end of the year.

Indian company Bharat Biotech, which is developing the indigenous vaccine ‘COVAXIN’ with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), is also expected to launch early next year.

With inputs from agencies

Posted: Nov 8, 2020 10:56 am | Updated: November 8, 2020 11:08 am