Live updates: Senators ask White House to use reserved second doses to vaccinate more people
A growing number of people in the United States, Europe and Japan say that they are likely to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a new survey, even as respondents raised concerns about new variants potentially hampering the inoculations.
The survey was conducted by global consultancy Kekst CNC in February and included results from Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United States.
According to the firm, nearly 90 percent of people questioned in Britain say they would take the coronavirus vaccine, up from just 70 percent in December. In Sweden, 76 percent of respondents said that they would probably be vaccinated after only 53 percent responded positively in the earlier survey.
France is the country least likely to want to get vaccinated — with just 59 percent saying yes — but has also seen an increase in those seeking out the shot. Sixty-four percent of respondents in the United States said that they were likely to get the vaccine. On Monday, more than 49.8 million people in the United States had been partially vaccinated.
Most countries, with the exception of Britain, were critical of their governments’ immunization drives, however. Majorities in Sweden, France and Germany said that the campaigns to inoculate residents are too slow.
The criticism of the rollouts came as respondents expressed concern about new, more transmissible variants of the virus disrupting vaccination campaigns. Nearly 6 in 10 people in France believe that new variants will hinder the ability of authorities to successfully vaccinate the population. Almost half of people surveyed in Britain, Germany and the United States believe the same.
In general, respondents, including those in the United States, expressed support for some type of vaccine certification that would allow people to access travel, entertainment and other activities following immunization. But when people were asked if they supported the early lifting of restrictions for those who were vaccinated, support significantly diminished.
