COVID-19: Where Vaccination Intention Declined

Two surveys, carried out by Ipsos in October and December, show that vaccination intention for COVID-19 declined in most countries out of a selection of 15. The exception to this rule is the U.S., where vaccination intent rose from 64 to 69 percent.

The biggest decreases in the desire to get vaccinated against COVID-19 were recorded in the two countries in the survey which had the least intent to begin with: France and South Africa. But Asian countries Japan, South Korea and China experienced the next biggest declines at 9, 8 and 5 percentage points. An even earlier version of the survey, carried out in July and August, had featured more countries and showed how Asian nations initially appeared towards the top of vaccination intent rankings. Back then, 97 percent of Chinese and 87 percent of Indians said they would get a COVID-19 vaccination. In July and August, 86 percent of Malaysians and 84 percent of South Koreans said they were in favor of getting vaccinated.

Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, together with French respondents, were the most concerned about possible side effects of the vaccine in the survey. On a different note, Chinese people were the most likely to say they would decline the vaccine because they felt not at risk from COVID-19.