68 out of 100 People Say "I Will Get the COVID Vaccine After Watching"

Source: Professor Yum Myung-soon and team

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Among 100 Korean citizens, 68 expressed a willingness to wait and observe the situation before getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), even after the vaccine is introduced.

According to a COVID-19 perception survey released on the 14th by Professor Yoo Myung-soon’s team at Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, 67.7% of respondents said they would "wait and observe to some extent or as long as possible" before getting vaccinated. Those who responded "get vaccinated as soon as possible, even within a day" accounted for 28.6%. The survey was conducted by Professor Yoo’s team from the 8th to the 10th among 1,094 adult men and women nationwide.

Regarding the timing for starting COVID-19 vaccinations in Korea, 59.9% of respondents chose "wait and observe to some extent or as long as possible." The proportion selecting "as soon as possible, even within a day" was 37.8%. When asked to predict when the COVID-19 vaccine would be commercialized in Korea, 42% answered "mid-year this year," the highest response. This was followed by "end of this year (35.4%)" and "next year or later (11.2%)."

Source: Professor Yum Myung-soon and team

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Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, 40.4% responded that their expectations and fears were similar, while 28.1% said their fears had grown more than their expectations, slightly higher than those who said their expectations had increased (25.6%). However, if experts verified the vaccine’s safety and it was available free of charge, 80.3% said they would "definitely or probably" get vaccinated. Only 1.8% responded that they would "never get vaccinated."

A similar survey conducted by the U.S. nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) among 1,676 Americans showed that 15% responded they would "never get vaccinated," a higher rate than in Korea.

Opinions on the safety and efficacy trials of the COVID-19 vaccine were divided. While 50.3% were confident that the vaccine had undergone appropriate testing, 43.6% were not confident. Regarding fairness in vaccine distribution, 50.9% were not confident, higher than the 43.6% who were confident.

Professor Yoo emphasized, "There is a need to strengthen efforts to comprehensively assess and reflect the public’s intentions, attitudes, and experiences with the mindset that ‘the final evaluation of policy is based on a comprehensive assessment.’"

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