If there is a vaccine against corona, 6 out of 10 want to have it, the rest is hesitant

If there is a vaccine against the coronavirus, a majority wants to be vaccinated. This is shown by a survey conducted by EenVandaag among 35,000 people. But four out of ten do not (yet) like this because of the risks. Young people in particular are reluctant.

In the study, six out of ten respondents (59 percent) said they want to get vaccinated when a good vaccine is available. One in six (18 percent) do not want a vaccination against corona. A quarter (23 percent) do not yet know. Who are these supporters and opponents and what does this outcome mean for future group immunity?

Vaccination is liberation

Vaccine advocates want to return to ‘the old normal’, without restrictions on freedom and fear of corona. Many participants hope that the virus will stop spreading due to group immunity. That is why they like to be vaccinated, for themselves, but also for the elderly and the vulnerable, so that everyone can resume life before corona. An interviewee writes, “My parents are diabetics and I would hate to get sick by me or anyone else who’s not been vaccinated. I actually take it for granted.”

People who are in a risk group themselves are also usually in favor of vaccination: “I have not been able to move freely for months and do my work. Vaccination will be a liberation for me!” This also applies to the elderly: almost three-quarters (72 percent) of the over-55s would like to get a vaccination.

“I don’t want to be a guinea pig”

Still, 41 percent are not (yet) convinced of the need for vaccination against corona. They find it hard to believe that a vaccine that will become available in the short term is sufficiently safe. The fear of short and long term side effects is high. “Normally it takes many years to develop a good vaccine. Such a corona vaccine is put together. I don’t feel like playing for a guinea pig,” said one respondent.

Many participants prefer to see money being put into developing a drug for corona patients, rather than a vaccine for the entire population. Others wonder if a vaccine makes sense. They fear that the coronavirus will have mutated again by the time the first vaccine is available.

Video: panelist René talks about his doubts about a vaccine

No risk

Younger people feel less of a need to be vaccinated than older people. Half (50 percent) of the group up to 55 years of age want a vaccination against corona. The other half don’t want that (23 percent) or hesitate (26 percent). They are generally not so afraid of the coronavirus, so they prefer not to be at risk for possible side effects from a vaccine. A younger participant writes, “I am young and healthy. The problem of corona is minimal to me. But with such a vaccine, I think the remedy is worse than the disease.”

The doubters also include many parents of children up to the age of 18. They are also a bit more cautious when it comes to a corona vaccination: 45 percent are willing to do this. A relatively large group of parents do not think such a shot is necessary for both themselves and their children (28 percent). Among them are also parents critical of vaccination in general. “Because I am afraid that my children will get so sick again that they will have a fever with 40 plus degrees for days,” says one mother.

Group immunity?

So six out of ten participants (59 percent) would like to be vaccinated. What does this mean for future group immunity? We asked the epidemiologist Patricia Bruijning. She says we are on the right track because you can stop the coronavirus when between 60 and 70 percent of the population is vaccinated.

That is lower than, for example, with measles, where the aim is to have a vaccination rate of around 95 percent.