Only half of Britain's population would get vaccinated against coronavirus: Study

The anti-vaccination movement (or commonly known as anti-vaxxers) are quite famous in the US. Turns out, their philosophy has also crossed the pond.

A new study claims that only half of Britain’s population would be up for getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

53% may get vaccinated

The shocking data reveals that 53 per cent of Britons would most likely get vaccinated against COVID-19, if one gets circulated soon.

Only half the population of Britain definitely would accept being vaccinated against Covid-19. That is the shock conclusion of a group of scientists and pollsters who have found that only 53% of a test group of citizens said they would be certain or very likely to allow themselves to be given a vaccine against the disease if one becomes available.

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The research, undertaken by King’s College London and Ipsos Mori claims  one in six Britons (16 per cent) will most definitely not accept a vaccine.

In addition, one in five (20 per cent) of the respondents claimed that they would be “fairly likely” to get vaccinated once it comes out.

Other factors come into play

The corollary parameters of the study ascertained that those who rejected the vaccine were also more likely to be sceptic of science and the real-life impact of COVID-19.

Those who answered with likely to refuse the vaccine also constituted the group least likely to don a mask, and further claimed that most of their coronavirus related information came from WhatsApp and various social media outlets.

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Age was also an important factor. 22 per cent of the responders within the groups of 16-24 and 25-34 said they would not arbitrarily accept vaccination, while only 11 per cent of those aged 55-75 echoed this sentiment. This may partly owing to the fact that the virus is more fatal among old people.

The study took into account 22,37 responses from the UK, between the age of 16-75, and was conducted online in July.

The lead author of the study, Bobby Duffy believes conspiracies and misperceptions surrounding vaccines may be influencing people’s intentions.

The authors of the study also believe that governments should undertake measures to dispel false notions surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccination projects that are underway.