Majority doubt govt's Covid vaccination strategy: poll

Majority doubt govt's Covid vaccination strategy: poll

FILE PHOTO: Airport personnel handle a shipment of 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines for Covid-19 from China on arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, June 5, 2021. (AFP PHOTO / THAI AIRWAYS)
FILE PHOTO: Airport personnel handle a shipment of 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines for Covid-19 from China on arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, June 5, 2021. (AFP PHOTO / THAI AIRWAYS)

A majority of people are not confident in the government's administration of Covid-19 vaccination plans and doubt its goal of inoculating 50 million people with 100 million doses of vaccines by the end of 2021 can be achieved, according to the result of an opinion survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.

The poll was conducted online on June 7-10 on 1,450 people throughout the country.

Asked to comment on the government's policy to make Covid-19 vaccination a national priority, with each respondent allowed to choose more than one answer, 66.87% said the policy should be implemented as soon as possible; 62.44% said the issue was important and would affect people's livelihoods; 61.91% wanted vaccinations to be fairly expedited for all; 60.29% thought there should be a choice of vaccines with differing efficacy; and 56.27% said communications about vaccines must be clear, not confusing.

On their confidence in the government's vaccination administration, a majority -- 59.05% -- were not confident, with 36.36% having little confidence and 22.69% having no confidence at all. On the other side, 30.26% were fairly confident and 10.69% highly confident.

Asked whether they thought the government would be able to fulfil its goal of inoculating 50 million people with 100 million doses of vaccines by the end of 2021, 57.61% thought it was unlikely to achieve the goal and 42.39% believed it would be able to do so.

Asked to pick from a list of problems with vaccinations against Covid-19 in Thailand, with each respondent allowed to choose more than one answer, 77.87% said there would be insufficient supplies of vaccines and a limited number of manufacturers; 67.29% said people were still concerned about side-effects of the vaccines; 65.56% cited a slow distribution of vaccines; 62.79% said information given by the government was not clear, causing confusion; and 58.58% said there was too much rumour-mongering and fake news.

Asked what should be done to expedite vaccination evenly throughout the country, 78.74% said vaccines from several different manufacturers should be imported, and in larger quantities; 63.92% said there should be an effective plan for the distribution of vaccines; 60.18% said the government must give clear information on the issue without frequent changes; 59.28% said risk groups should be properly prioritised for vaccination; and 56.79% said the private sector should be allowed to import vaccines.

Concerning the idea of allowing people buy an alternative vaccine with their own money, 55.90% agreed and 44.10% disagreed, with no reason given.

Asked whether or not they were interested in registering for an alternative vaccine and paying for it by themselves, 37.38% were not interested; 32.34% were interested; and 30.28% were still undecided.

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