Based on the new survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI), Georgians are increasingly hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
The survey shows that the majority of respondents, 45%, would not get vaccinated against coronavirus, which is a six-point increase from IRI’s February 2021 poll.
When asked ‘as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely available and the vaccination process continues, what will be your decision?’, 18% of respondents said they will get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them, 19% said they will be vaccinated after some time, 7% of respondents they will get vaccinated only if required by the law or employer. Only 5% say they have already been vaccinated.
When asked in February this year: Once the vaccine becomes available, what will be your decision, 20% said they would get the vaccine as soon as it became available to them, 24% said they would get the vaccine after some time, and 39% said they would not get the vaccine.
In addition, the survey showed that the majority of respondents, 25% trust Pfizer, Sinopharm – 8%, AstraZeneca – 7%, Sinovac – 4%, and Moderna – 1%.
“This underlines the need for the Georgian government to focus its public messaging to increase vaccination rates,” said Stephen Nix, Director of IRI’s Eurasia Division, “As the vaccination campaign continues, more needs to be done to convince Georgians of the safety of the vaccine.”
By Ana Dumbadze
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