Some 41% of the respondents would accept to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, as Study No. 4 of the behavioral insights into COVID-19 in Moldova shows. The number of persons who agree to be immunized rose compared with the previous studies, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection.
At the same time, the number of persons who said they will definitely not get a vaccine declined from 46% to 37%. In general, the vaccine is accepted rather by older persons and men, those who trust the authorities more and those who perceive the virus as being close and as spreading swiftly . The low level of acceptance of the vaccine is due to the fact that the people are concerned the vaccine can have serious side effects on health (83% of the respondents).
The distrust in the vaccination process is fueled by negative rumors. This way, 82% of the respondents heard real things about vaccines, especially that they have serious side effects and reduced efficiency. Each tenth respondent was exposed to the fact that the vaccination is aimed at implanting chips in the human body.
Of the respondents who would accept to be vaccinated, 41% agree to be administered any vaccine against COVID-19 offered by the National Public Health Agency. Each fourth adult (25%) continues not to believe that the novel coronavirus is real or is not sure that this exists.
86% of the respondents (by 9% more than last November) are concerned that the pandemic will have economic consequences for them in the future. 46% of those polled said their personal financial situation worsened (36% in November 2020) during the past three months, while for 49% remained unchanged (58% in November 2020). The percentage of respondents who avoided to see a doctor for problems that can be put off decreased by 6 percentage points compared with the previous studies (from 29% to 23%).
The fourth survey was carried out during March 10-21, 2021 and covered a sample of 1,009 adult persons from 423 settlements of Moldova (except for the Transnistrian region). The margin of sampling error is ± 3%. The questionnaire was worked out by the WHO Regional Office for Europe for all the countries of the region, being adjusted to the national context and the epidemiological situation in the Republic of Moldova.
