COVID19: 72% say Indian vaccine safe and effective against coronavirus: Poll

New Delhi: A total of 72 per cent respondents of a survey think that Indian Covid vaccines are safe and effective against the coronavirus. However, 60 per cent of the respondents believe that Indian vaccines are at par with foreign Covid-19 vaccines.

The survey `Public Ki Awaaz Poll` was conducted by location-based social networking app "Public" to examine the extent of vaccine hesitancy. The poll garnered a total of 9,14,164 responses to find out the vaccine hesitancy. According to the survey, 8.8 per cent of the respondents expressed hesitation in getting vaccinated against the virus.

According to the aggregate estimates, a large chunk of respondents considers it safe to take the vaccine. Around 72 per cent strongly agree that the vaccines are safe & effective and over a majority of 60 per cent respondents believe that Indian vaccines are at par with foreign Covid-19 vaccines. Around 25 per cent of the respondents said that they`ve already been vaccinated with both the doses.

Although the majority of respondents favoured vaccines, the survey showed that 18 per cent of the respondents still haven`t received even a single dose while 8.8 per cent were not sure of getting vaccines. A meagre 4 per cent strongly expressed their mistrust against the vaccines.

The potential risk of side effects was the most cited reason of about 34 per cent for not administering the vaccines. As per the findings, other factors that lead to vaccine hesitancy are lack of trust for 20 per cent, health concerns for 14 per cent and never having taken any vaccine for 11 per cent.

According to the poll, both community and institutional encouragement are essential in this regard. 24 per cent of the respondents said that their confidence in the efficacy of vaccines is based on the recommendations of friends and family, while 25 per cent said that they`ll go by the word of healthcare experts.

The vitality of information is indicated in the responses of the participants as 23 per cent hold the view that access to more information on the vaccines can help shore up confidence.

On the question of `getting information and updates on the vaccines`, a whopping majority of 59 per cent respondents marked media as an important source, whereas 15 per cent rely on government ads. Around 13 per cent of the respondents said that they depend on friends and family, while 11 per cent cited other sources as means of obtaining information.

(With agency inputs)