Half of the Nation Says "Vaccination Is Important"... 30%p Drop in One Year

Survey of 1,000 Men and Women Nationwide Aged 18 and Over

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] A survey revealed that only about half of the population considers the COVID-19 vaccine important.

On the 30th, Professor Yoo Myung-soon’s team from Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health announced the results of the "Survey on the Risk of COVID-19 Resurgence and Risk Response Perceptions." This study was conducted from the 17th to the 21st of this month, targeting 1,000 adults aged 18 and older nationwide.

The survey results showed that about half of the respondents answered that "COVID-19 vaccination is important." This represents a 20-30 percentage point decrease compared to two surveys conducted last year. The response rates were 82.2% and 77.4% in February last year, but only 52.5% in this survey.

On the other hand, the proportion of respondents who answered that COVID-19 vaccination is "neither important nor unimportant (neutral)" increased significantly, from 12.4% last year to 27.1% in this survey. The percentage of those who answered that vaccination is "not important" rose to 15.3%, which is 5.7 times higher than the 2.7% recorded in February last year.

By age group, the older the respondents, the more they considered vaccination important. Among those in their 20s and 30s, 38.4% responded that vaccination is "important," while among those aged 60 and above, the figure was 67.4%.

Regarding the seriousness of the domestic COVID-19 resurgence compared to the actual response of society, 38.2% responded that the response was "not effective," surpassing the 15.5% who said it was "effective." The response that society’s response was "neutral" accounted for 46.3%.

Those with poor subjective health perceptions had a worse view of COVID-19 response effectiveness. Among respondents who perceived their health as poor, 50% answered that the response was "not effective," higher than those who perceived their health as good (37.8%) or average (35.5%).

Regarding what is needed for an effective COVID-19 response, among eight options, "active testing support" led with an 18.5% response rate. The survey also asked about willingness to undergo COVID-19 diagnostic testing, with 41.1% responding that "even if COVID-19 symptoms are suspected, they might not get tested."

Regarding government COVID-19 resurgence prevention measures, 61.1% agreed that there needs to be a clear shift toward focused management of high-risk groups to minimize severe cases and deaths, while the general public maintains daily life with continued basic prevention measures.

Professor Yoo explained, "Going forward, health authorities should use the positive beliefs about overcoming infectious diseases and the shared understanding of prevention policies revealed in this survey as resources to increase social acceptance of COVID-19 risks. At the same time, they should respond to the public’s demand for more realistic and specific prevention measures and communication, and actively create sustainable conditions for basic infection prevention behaviors such as vaccination and testing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.