Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
People who have been vaccinated against Covid would welcome milder restrictions than those who refuse to get inoculated.
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This stems from the recent edition of the regular “How are You, Slovakia?” poll, carried out by the MNFORCE company, the Seesame agency and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) between May 14 and 20, 2021. At the time, the number of hospitalised people suffering from Covid had dropped, and several anti-pandemic restrictions had been lifted.
The survey also suggests that compared with the March edition, the willingness of people to be vaccinated is stagnating.
“Despite the rising number of vaccinated people and wider accessibility of the vaccines, the willingness to be inoculated is stagnating,” said Robert Klobucký of the SAV’s Institute of Sociology, citing the improving epidemiological situation and related drop in fear from the disease among reasons.
In his opinion, milder measures could possibly contribute to higher willingness to get vaccinated.
Milder rules for the vaccinated
As many as 46.3 percent of respondents agreed with milder measures for vaccinated people. The idea was opposed by 35.4 percent of respondents.
Of respondents who have already received a shot of the Covid vaccine, 78.7 percent support the idea of having more relaxed measures, while 70 percent agree among those who plan to be vaccinated.
25.4 percent of respondents have already been vaccinated, while 23.3 percent want to be inoculated in the future. The number of respondents who reject vaccination rose slightly compared to the previous poll, from 28.8 percent in March to 30.9 percent in May. 20.4 percent of respondents have not decided, which is down from March’s 22.2 percent.
Fear of disease plays a role
Still, the willingness to receive the vaccine jab seems to be stagnating. The May survey suggests that 48.7 percent of respondents would receive vaccines, which is very similar to the 49 percent in the March edition.
The willingness to be vaccinated is linked to the threat from the disease. Mostly respondents who feel endangered by the virus want to receive the jab, with men more willing than women.
Respondents who want to be inoculated mostly come from the Bratislava region and have university education.
At the same time, 57.5 percent of respondents who plan to be vaccinated have already registered with the online waiting room system. Those who have not registered but want to be vaccinated stated that they are waiting for the system to let them decide on the vaccine to be administered (24 percent).
Nearly one third of respondents (32 percent) said that they know somebody who wanted to register, but needed help.
