The Resolve Political Monitor only a small drop in the number of people who say they are hesitant about getting the coronavirus vaccine.Credit:Pool via NCA NewsWire,Alex Ellinghausen
“We’ve had 3.6 million doses of this vaccine[and] two tragic deaths but,other than that,mostly this has worked well and continues to work well and with great safety,” Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said last week.
But concerns about side effects remain strong among those who are reluctant to take a COVID-19 vaccine after months of debate among health experts and widespread media reporting of each blood clot case.
When those who were hesitant about taking a vaccine were asked why,47 per cent agreed with the statement “I am nervous about side-effects for my age group” and 43 per cent agreed with the statement “I do not know enough about the vaccines yet”. These results were from a subset of the total survey group of 1600 adults.
“The reasons for hesitancy have not changed,with nervousness and uncertainty about side effects,not knowing enough and wanting to wait until more people go before them all cited frequently,” Mr Reed said.
“Again,this is sometimes coupled with the idea that there is no rush given Australia’s isolation and relatively low case numbers,with outright opposition to vaccines or physical barriers relatively rare.”
Among this subset,only 5 per cent said they were opposed to all vaccinations.