A vast majority of Thais want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 but many worry about possible side effects, according to the result of an opinion survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was conducted online on 1,570 people throughout the country during Jan 22-29.
Asked whether they wanted to be vaccinated, a majority -- 65.99% -- said "yes' but they would rather wait to see if there are any side effects; 20.70% said they wanted to be vaccinated right away; and 13.31% did not want it at all.
Asked to identify the vaccine producers they had heard of -- with respondents allowed to name more than one -- 64.27% mentioned Pfizer-BioNTech; 52.55% Oxford-AstraZeneca; 51.66% Sinovac-Biotech; 35.10% Johnson & Johnson; and 28.28% Moderna.
Asked what concerned them most about getting vaccinated, -- with respondents again allowed to give more than one answer -- 82.71% cited possible side effects; 71.96% the efficacy of the vaccine; 54.67% the availability of vaccines for everyone; 44.17% the price per jab in case people have to pay for it themselves; and 38.60% the type and brand of vaccines imported by Thailand.
Concerning their confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccines against Covid-19, a majority -- 63.88% --said they were fairly confident; 19.30% were not confident; and 16.82% were confident.
Asked whether people would change the way they look after their health after Covid vaccination begins in Thailand, 60.83% believed nothing would change; 35.54% thought they would take better care of their health; and 3.63% believed they would take less care.