Pakistan among leading nations resisting coronavirus vaccination: survey

• Pakistanis leading among nations rejecting vaccination shots against coronavirus.
  
• About 21% of Pakistanis opposed vaccination, followed by 11% of Americans and 10% of Italians.
  
• As many as 9 out of 10 Pakistanis expect the vaccine to be freely available.
  

KARACHI: Pakistan is among the leading nations rejecting vaccination shots against the coronavirus, The News reported, quoting an IPSOS survey.

According to IPSOS, which is a market research company, 21% of Pakistanis opposed vaccination, followed by 11% of Americans and 10% of Italians.

Nine out of 10 Pakistanis expect vaccine for free

As many as nine out of 10 Pakistanis expect the vaccine to be available for free.

At the same time, only 3% of the sample polled knew vaccines by name. Of those, eight out of 10 do not know the vaccines by name.

The survey also found that most of the respondents are confused about the procedure to get vaccinated.

61% favoured vaccination overall

IPSOS surveyed a  sample population of 1,054 people about the efficacy of the vaccine from Feb 25-March 1.

They consisted of 65% men and 35% women, of whom 14% belonged to rural areas and 86% represented urban areas.

About 61% favoured vaccination, 15% wanted early jabs, 39% showed reluctance and 23% feared serious side effects.

Read more: Pakistan launches coronavirus vaccination drive for general public, starting with elderly

Only 3% know vaccine by name globally

As many as only 3% of respondents knew vaccines by name globally. In countries like Brazil and UK, those favouring vaccination stand at 88% and 89% respectively, followed by Mexico, Canada, Italy, Spain, the USA, China, Australia, Germany, France, S Africa, South Korea and Pakistan, Japan and Russia.

According to the survey, 15% of those polled wanted the vaccine shot early and 8% wanted to be vaccinated within one month.

Various reasons for rejecting vaccine jabs

People had different reasons for being hesitant to get a coronavirus vaccine.

As many as 23% are scared of the jab, 21% expressed outright rejection of any vaccine and 19% feel that the vaccine has been rapidly manufactured without effective testing against side effects.

Comparatively, Pakistanis are not scared about the side effects but rather outright oppose the concept of a vaccination.