A total of 36% of the Romanian respondents to a Reveal Marketing Research survey said they want to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as soon as the vaccine is available. At the same time, 38% of the respondents said they did not want to get vaccinated, neither this year nor later.

Of those who want to be vaccinated immediately, 59% are men, and 41% are women. Among those who refuse vaccination, women make up 66%, compared to men - 34%.

Furthermore, 26% of the respondents who say they want to be vaccinated say they would like to do it later, not in 2021, the survey showed. 

Of the respondents in rural areas, 24% are open to getting the vaccine as soon as they have the opportunity, compared to 45% of those in urban areas who have expressed their intention to get vaccinated. More than half of those in rural areas (51%) say they will not get vaccinated at all, neither now nor later.

Retired seniors and single adults are the most open segments to vaccination, according to the survey. More than half of the retirees, asked if they would like to get vaccinated as soon as possible, answered affirmatively, and 56% of single adults had the same answer. Young people, although they said they want to be vaccinated, said they would prefer to wait until next year: 36% of young professionals and 31% of single millennials were in favor of vaccination, but later on.

Among the respondents who refused vaccination, 46% of women say they will not get vaccinated, compared to about a third of men. 

More than half of Romanians who are willing to get vaccinated (53%) say they do it because they do not want to get sick. Of the retired seniors, 67% said they want to get vaccinated to avoid getting infected. Of those who want to get vaccinated to prevent illness, 48% have higher education, and 10% primary education.

Romanians also choose to get vaccinated to protect others, and 47% of the respondents to the survey mentioned this option. Of the young professionals, 61% plan to get vaccinated for this reason, while 49% of those with higher education plan to get vaccinated to protect others.

Another reason determining Romanians to get vaccinated is the desire to go back to normal, with 42% of the respondents mentioning this reason. 

Other reasons selected by respondents regarding the intention to get vaccinated are: the desire to feel calm and relaxed - mentioned by a third of Romanians (33%); the possibility to visit their parents without fearing they might infect them - 18%; and traveling abroad - 13%. Only 1 in 10 respondents mentioned that they were getting vaccinated because it is recommended by the authorities and doctors.

When it comes to the reasons mentioned for not getting vaccinated, 62% of the respondents said they had fears about the vaccine. According to the survey, 42% of respondents are afraid of the potential side effects of the vaccine.

Of those who do not plan on getting vaccinated, more than half (54%) believe that the vaccine has not been sufficiently tested. Furthermore, 48% of the respondents who do not want to get vaccinated say they are afraid of the side effects, and 4 out of 10 respondents (41%) do not believe in the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine. Only 14% of Romanians who do not want to get vaccinated said they are not afraid of contracting the virus. The others, although fearful of the virus, do not intend to be vaccinated. The fear of side effects is the reason mentioned mostly by those with secondary education (52%), while 51% of those who do not believe in the effectiveness of the vaccine are people with secondary education. Of those with primary education, 64% do not think the vaccine is sufficiently tested.

Moreover, 70% of the respondents believe that the vaccine should be tested longer before making it available to the population. More than a quarter of them (26%) believe that the vaccine should be tested for one year before it can be administered on a large scale, and 18% mention more than five years as a suitable period for testing.

Of those who want to get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available, 50% have higher education, 40% have secondary education, and 10% primary education.  Of those who plan to get vaccinated at a later stage, 53% have higher education, 40% secondary education, and 7% primary education. Of those who will not get vaccinated, 19% have primary education, 49% have secondary education, and 32% have higher education.

The survey on Romanians' perception on the vaccination against COVID-19 was carried out using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) method; 1011 online interviews were conducted with respondents over the age of 18, online users, on a nationally representative urban and rural sample between January 6 and January 11, 2021. The sampling error is +/- 3%; the confidence level: 95%.

Romania started its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on December 27, with the first phase targeting healthcare professionals. By January 13, 154,268 people received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The second phase of the vaccination campaign, covering vulnerable groups and those working in essential areas, is set to start on January 15. President Klaus Iohannis said he would get vaccinated against Covid-19 publicly, on January 15, to mark the start of the second phase of the vaccination campaign.

(Photo: Maria Kaminska/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com