Sociologists: there are more and more people in the world who doubt vaccines

Two years ago, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. At the end of 2021, the international association Gallup International and the research holding Romir (the association's exclusive representative in Russia and the CIS countries) conducted a survey to find out how people's attitudes towards the coronavirus have changed. The study, which involved residents of 45 countries around the world, showed that

• half of the respondents (49%) doubt the efficacy of vaccines. 43% are confident in their effectiveness. In Russia, the share of those who are uncertain about the effectiveness of the vaccine is 52%. Most doubters are in Albania (86%), Ghana (73%), the Philippines (68%), Kenya and Palestine (67% each), and Pakistan (66%). Africa leads among the regions - 64% of respondents doubt the effectiveness of anti-covid vaccines. Residents of Australia (78%), Spain (67%), Great Britain (63%), Italy (61%) and Austria (58%) do not doubt the effectiveness of vaccination. Among the regions, the EU leads - 53%;
• 44% of people around the world believe that the threat from the coronavirus is exaggerated. About half (49%) disagree with this statement. In Russia, 52% of the population believes that the threat is not exaggerated (in 2020 - 60%). The opposite opinion, as in 2020, is held by about a third of the population (2021 - 30%, 2020 - 32%). The perception that the threat is exaggerated is most common in the Middle East (61%), West Asia (55%), Africa (53%) and European countries outside the EU (50%). People in the Philippines (69%), Nigeria (67%), Palestine (66%), India and Moldova (65% each) and Pakistan (63%) agree with this. They do not agree that the threat of coronavirus is exaggerated in Latin America (62%), the EU (61%), East Asia (53%). They believe in a real threat of the virus in Vietnam (79%), Australia and Mexico (78% each), Albania (77%), Spain (74%) and Japan (72%);
• the willingness to sacrifice one's rights in order to fight the virus still prevails, but it is decreasing compared to the first pandemic year (-10 p.p.). In 2021, 60% of people around the world said they were willing to sacrifice some of their rights if it would help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Not ready - 31%. Difficult to answer 9%. A year ago, 70% of respondents agreed to give up part of their rights, a quarter of the respondents disagreed with this. In Russia, the number of those willing to sacrifice their rights prevails (46% vs 38%). However, compared to 2020, their share has decreased due to an increase in the number of doubters. If in 2020 there were 54% of those who agreed, and 8% of those who had doubts, then at the end of 2021 they were 46% and 17%, respectively;
• most willing to donate in the Middle East (75%), Africa (65%) and Asia (62% in the western part of the continent and 61% in the east). Among the population of the countries of the world - in Vietnam (93%), Iraq (84%), Pakistan (81%), India (80%) and the Philippines (77%). Residents of Latin America (40%) and the EU (35%) are not ready to sacrifice human rights. Among the countries are residents of Albania (66%), Japan (58%), Mexico (54%), Poland (48%) and Kazakhstan (45%).

Here is how Andrei Milekhin, Vice President of Gallup International and President Romir, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, comments on the results of the survey:

“The pandemic is not the root cause of people losing confidence in vaccination. The globalization of information has led to a sharp increase in its volume and a decrease in quality. And this is not only a Russian problem. The remaining unvaccinated part of the population is very heterogeneous. Many refuse the domestic vaccine, someone is afraid of vaccination, and someone does not see a threat to themselves personally and believes in their immunity. For each group, it is necessary to find its own system of argumentation".