People's willingness to have a Covid-19 vaccination is rising around the world, an updated survey of confidence suggested on Thursday.
But attitudes vary widely in the 15 countries covered in the survey, with France showing high levels of scepticism and some Asian countries showing declining trust, while other European nations report increasing confidence.
The survey, co-led by YouGov and Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, found people in Britain were the most willing to have a Covid-19 vaccine, at 78 per cent, followed by Denmark at 67 per cent.
Overall, vaccine confidence is higher than in November, when the same survey – conducted in 15 countries and covering 13,500 people each time – found only 40 per cent were willing to be vaccinated.
France had the highest proportion of respondents who said they would not take a vaccine, at 44 per cent, but recorded a doubling in the proportion who strongly agreed that they would take a vaccine, from 15 per cent in November to 30 per cent in January.
In Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, willingness to take a vaccine has dropped off since November, with Japan showing the least preparedness, followed by Singapore.
"Leaders must act now to help more people to understand the benefits of being vaccinated against Covid-19 and make sure that no one is left behind," said David Nabarro, the institute's co-director and a World Health Organisation expert on Covid-19.
The survey is part of efforts by the WHO and other organisations to monitor health-related behaviour and attitudes during the pandemic.
Since April 2020, researchers surveyed more than 470,000 people worldwide. This most recent survey ran between January 4 and 24.
It found that most people trusted vaccines, with two thirds expressing strong or moderate confidence and only 12 per cent reporting no trust at all.
It also found that two thirds of people believed getting vaccinated was important for their health.
