tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Postgrad Med J
. 2020 Oct 28;postgradmedj-2020-138903.
doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138903. Online ahead of print.
Will vaccination refusal prolong the war on SARS-CoV-2?
Robert Marcec[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matea Majta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Robert Likic[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that appeared in Wuhan, China in January 2020 and caused a global pandemic drastically changing everyday life. Currently, there are vaccine candidates in clinical trials and development, so it is only a matter of time before one is authorised for human use.
Materials and methods: We collected public opinion survey results about attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination conducted in 2020 in 26 European countries.
Results: The pooled surveys were conducted on a total of 24 970 participants; on average only 58% (n=14 365/24 970) of responders across Europe were willing to get a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine once it becomes available, 16% (n=3998/24 970) were neutral, and 26% (n=6607/24 970) were not planning to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2. Such a low vaccination response could make it exceedingly difficult to reach the herd immunity threshold for SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination.
Conclusion: It is very important to start conducting educational public health activities on the topic of vaccination as soon as possible, before a vaccine becomes available, in order to improve attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Only by educating the general public about the benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines can we hope to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: Clinical pharmacology; Infection control; Infectious diseases; Public health.
. 2020 Oct 28;postgradmedj-2020-138903.
doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138903. Online ahead of print.
Will vaccination refusal prolong the war on SARS-CoV-2?
Robert Marcec[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Matea Majta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Robert Likic[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33115909
- DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138903
Abstract
Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that appeared in Wuhan, China in January 2020 and caused a global pandemic drastically changing everyday life. Currently, there are vaccine candidates in clinical trials and development, so it is only a matter of time before one is authorised for human use.
Materials and methods: We collected public opinion survey results about attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination conducted in 2020 in 26 European countries.
Results: The pooled surveys were conducted on a total of 24 970 participants; on average only 58% (n=14 365/24 970) of responders across Europe were willing to get a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine once it becomes available, 16% (n=3998/24 970) were neutral, and 26% (n=6607/24 970) were not planning to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2. Such a low vaccination response could make it exceedingly difficult to reach the herd immunity threshold for SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination.
Conclusion: It is very important to start conducting educational public health activities on the topic of vaccination as soon as possible, before a vaccine becomes available, in order to improve attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Only by educating the general public about the benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines can we hope to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: Clinical pharmacology; Infection control; Infectious diseases; Public health.