September 1, 2020 - 13:57 AMT
Poll: Three in four adults globally would get a vaccine for Covid-19

About three-quarters of people surveyed around the world say they’d be willing to get a coronavirus vaccine if one came out, with the most enthusiasm in China and the least in Russia, CNN reports.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos for the World Economic Forum, surveyed nearly 20,000 people across 27 countries.

The survey showed that 74% of all adults surveyed would get the vaccine if it were available. China had the highest support for vaccination, with 97% of those surveyed saying they would get immunized.

Russians showed the least interest, with just 54% saying they would, while 67% of Americans said they’d get the vaccine and 33% expressed little or no interest. Of those who said they would refuse, 60% said side-effects were their biggest worry and 37% said they did not think it will be effective.

Only 40% of all respondents expect a vaccine to be available this year, the poll showed.

Experts expressed concern that more than a quarter of people worldwide would not get the vaccine.

“The 26% shortfall in vaccine confidence is significant enough to compromise the effectiveness of rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine,” said Arnaud Bernaert, Head of Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare at the World Economic Forum, in a statement.

Several companies and research agencies across the world have already started stage-three trials of their coronavirus vaccine candidates though no vaccine has been registered yet.