A majority of people are willing to accept vaccines against Covid-19 as provided by the government, regardless of the manufacturer, although the Pfizer vaccine is preferable to others, according to an opinion survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was conducted online on 2,644 people throughout the country on May 17-20 to gauge their responses to the government's campaign to persuade people that Covid-19 vaccines are safe, effective and necessary for the country to attain herd immunity.
Asked if they were willing to be inoculated with vaccines provided by the government, 64.39% of respondents said "yes", 22.30% were still undecided, and 13.31% said they did not want to be vaccinated.
Asked how much they knew about the vaccines, 57.41% said they had fair knowledge of them, 29.32% had good knowledge of them; 9,54% had little knowledge of them; and 3.73% knew nothing about them.
A majority, 56.49%, said they had registered for Covid vaccination; 32.39% had not; and 11.12% were still undecided.
Asked which sources of information about Covid vaccines were most reliable, 31.02% chose the Ministry of Public Health, health volunteers and government agencies; 17.36% information on television, radio and social media; and 16.63% the World Health Organisation (WHO) and world-renowned medical journals.
Asked which brands of vaccines they trusted most, with each respondent allowed to choose more than one answer, the answers were: Pfizer (75.11%); Moderna (72.14%); Johnson & Johnson (68.52%); AstraZeneca (65.89%); and Sputnik V (61.89%). There was no mention of Sinovac in the published poll.
Asked for their opinions on the country's Covid-19 vaccination drive, 59.64% said they still worried about side-effects; 57.24% believed vaccines would help build immunity and reduce severity of illness; and 48.46% wanted the inoculation process to be expedited.
Asked what would help build confidence in the vaccination campaign, 67.74% cited explanation from medical personnel; 52.13% information on the benefits, side effects and precautions about vaccination; and 51.86% reliable reports on the efficacy of the vaccines to be administered.