New Delhi :While chances of an affordable Covid-19 vaccine being available by February 2021 may seem high, 59 per cent of people have said they won’t rush to take it, according to a recent survey. The online survey conducted by LocalCircles, received more than 25,000 responses from across 262 districts of India, of which 69 per cent respondents were men and 31 per cent were women. The survey responses were also compared to responses to a similar survey conducted in October. Scientists from around the world, including India, are developing several vaccines that are at different stages of clinical trials. The first question in the survey asked, “The COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available from February 2021 via private and Government channels. If that happens, what will be your approach to taking this vaccine?”.
Responses from 8,936 citizens were received. Of which, 8% said “I am a health or frontline worker and will get it on priority through the Government”, 13% said “will get it as quickly as it becomes available via any healthcare channel”, 11% said “will get it as quickly as it becomes available via private healthcare channel”. Another 59% of respondents said that they will not rush to take the COVID-19 vaccine even if it is available in the near future.The perception of the majority of citizens sceptical on taking COVID-19 vaccine hasn’t changed much as compared to the result of the survey conducted in mid-October by LocalCircles. 61% of 8,312 voters at the time had said they are sceptical about COVID-19 vaccine and will not rush to take it in 2021 even if it is available.In July, Indians via LocalCircles raised the issue of an urgent need to develop serial number tracking of COVID-19 vaccine to avoid any black marketing and to track the vaccine from point of manufacturing to the point of administration.
The key action needed here by both the pharmaceutical industry and the Government is to keep citizens updated at every step about the vaccine via various media platforms so when a safe vaccine does arrive, the Indian citizenry is ready to take it.
