The survey found that one-third of Poles between the ages of 18 and 65 do not intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The main reasons for not vaccinating indicated by respondents were: no need to vaccinate (22% of respondents), lack of trust and negative attitudes towards vaccination (20%), and lack of vaccine efficacy and fear of side effects (17%).
Declared opponents of vaccination are mostly women (37% to 27% of men), those with primary/ vocational education (41%), and those between 25 and 34 years of age (41%). The percentage of people aged 35 to 44 (37%) and 18 to 24 (36%) is also high. By far the fewest opponents are found among respondents between the ages of 45 and 65 (23%) and those with higher education (24%).
- The results of this survey are not very optimistic. They show that the possibility of reaching the threshold of collective immunity is not possible with such a large group of people who declare that they will not be vaccinated. This is a group of almost 30% of the most mobile people, i.e. up to the age of 65. This is a problem faced not only by Poland, but also by many other countries - says Adam Czarnecki, PhD, from ARC Market and Opinion.
Wojciech Feleszko, MD, PhD, points to another important conclusion of the study: the existence of a group of people (about 15%) who, under certain conditions, are willing to change their opinion on vaccination. These are: proven efficacy of the vaccine (28% of respondents), receiving money/rewards (24%) or coercion/regulations (24%).
-It seems that especially the argument about the effectiveness of vaccination could be used in a reliable information campaign based on facts, that is, showing hard scientific data proclaimed by the experts, and not as before - celebrities. Such roles could be played by recognizable scientific authorities (such as the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski or Professor Krzysztof Simon) - indicates the expert of the MUW.
The report has been prepared on the basis of a survey conducted by ARC Market and Opinion using the CAWI method (online surveys carried out on ePanel.pl) on a sample of Poles aged 18-65 years N=1016, representative in terms of gender, age, size of the place of residence, education and GUS region.