Concern Over Becoming a Spreaders... Over Half of Citizens Say "Will Get Vaccinated if COVID-19 Vaccine Developed"

Published 05 Nov.2020 08:43(KST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] More than half of the population showed a high willingness to get vaccinated once a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is developed.

According to the 7th National Perception Survey on COVID-19 conducted by a team led by Professor Yoo Myung-soon from Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, commissioned to the public opinion research firm Korea Research, from the 27th to 29th of last month targeting 1,000 adults nationwide, 53.6% of respondents said they were "highly willing to get vaccinated if a COVID-19 vaccine is developed within a year." Those who said they had "low willingness to get vaccinated" accounted for 10.4%, and 36.0% were "undecided about whether to get vaccinated."

In particular, among the elderly aged 60 and above, the response rate for willingness to get vaccinated was the highest. By age group, those aged 60 and above showed the highest willingness at 64.4%, followed by those in their 50s (60.5%), 20s (51.4%), 40s (45.5%), and 30s (37.6%). Professor Yoo’s team explained, "There were no significant differences in willingness to get vaccinated based on region, income level, or political orientation, aside from age."

Respondents who expressed a high willingness to get vaccinated were concerned not only about contracting the virus themselves but also about transmitting it to others. "Worry about passing it to close contacts" was the most common concern at 82.8%, and "worry about contracting COVID-19" was similarly high at 82.4%. Additionally, 23.9% said they would get vaccinated because they were concerned about being unable to work if infected.

On the other hand, respondents who expressed low willingness to get vaccinated were concerned about side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. "Fear of vaccine side effects" was the most common response at 78.5%, and "lack of trust in the vaccine’s efficacy" was also high at 70.0%. Other concerns included "risk of contracting COVID-19 from the vaccine" (14.2%), "inconvenience of the vaccination process" (12.7%), and "increased risk of infection when going to the hospital for vaccination" (10.1%), all of which were in the 10% range.

Professor Yoo stated, "Maintaining herd immunity through vaccination is very important for sustaining social health," adding, "Efforts to maintain and strengthen the efficacy and reliability of the COVID-19 vaccines under development will be key to managing future health crises."