Only 54% vaccine acceptance rate among public: HPB

• HPB survey finds acceptance of vaccine only 57.4% even among healthcare workers 
• 8% of those surveyed said they will never get jabbed 
• Lowest income earners had highest reluctance, but only 59% those earning above Rs. 100,000 willing 
• Most concerned over vaccine brand, side effects and allergies 
• Transparency from officials positive, neighbour opinions least helpful to convince

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

Only 54% of a sample of 895 Sri Lankans said they would get the COVID vaccine if offered and 8% said they will never get the vaccine, a recent survey carried out by the Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) has found.

Titled ‘COVID-19 vaccine – Public perception survey report,’ the report was published on 21 January by the Behaviour Research Unit of the Health Promotion Bureau. It found that 38% of the sample said they were not sure if they would get the vaccine. Of this group, 43% were female.

The report states that 109 healthcare workers were among the participants, of which only 57.4% said they would get the vaccine and 37% said they were unsure. In terms of the vaccine acceptance rate among those who closely knew a COVID-19 positive person, 55% were unsure and 53% said they would accept the vaccine. 

While the report summary states, “out of the total sample, respondents with income level < Rs. 25,000 had lowest vaccine acceptance (30%),” it adds that only a 59% acceptance rate was recorded from those with an income above Rs. 100,000.

The top concerns regarding the vaccine were brand, side effects and allergies, and the duration of protection. Affordability was ranked last among the five top concerns.

The report also looked at cues for action and found that most respondents found more details of the vaccination to analyse the most helpful, and the opinion of neighbours the least helpful. Opinion of the family doctor and advice of public health workers were considered helpful as well.

“The survey was conducted among the social media community representing all sectors, ethnicities and occupations. The total number of respondents was 895. Mean age of the sample was 36.5 years (SD=10.5). The percentage of males was 55% (n=488),” the report states.

Of the sample, 651 fell into the ‘graduate and above level’ of education, 712 were employed, and 63% of the total participants were from the Western Province. The report states that 99% of the sample have never tested positive for COVID-19.

While the survey carried out by the HPB considers public opinion on various aspects of the COVID vaccine despite limitations in terms of the sample size, Sri Lanka is expecting the first batch of COVID vaccines on 28 January and has made preparations to administer them as soon as the following day, health authorities yesterday stated.

According to Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath, frontline workers will be given priority during administration, and guidelines will soon be issued to relevant institutions. He explained that the Health Ministry’s central storage will hold the vaccines once they arrive in the island.

Distribution will then take place to 26 regional storage facilities, and through them, to vaccine distribution centres.

“The Health Ministry has made arrangements to receive and distribute the vaccines. Measures have also been taken to administer the vaccine to recipients as soon as the batch is received. Due to this, it is highly likely that the vaccine administration process will begin the day after receiving the vaccines,” Dr. Herath said. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in December warned that vaccine acceptance is the next hurdle for countries and issued a handbook that calls on policymakers to take steps to address reservations harboured by populations. 

These include factors such as the convenience of location and time, associated costs, and the quality of the experience of being vaccinated.

Making vaccines easily accessible in safe, familiar and convenient locations, such as “drop-in” clinics that are near where people often go, can also encourage uptake, the report said. It added that governments should have targeted, credible and clear communication from trusted sources demonstrating that getting vaccinated is important, beneficial, easy, quick and affordable.

Health systems must also be prepared to reduce barriers to supply, service delivery and quality of services, in addition to ensuring that health care and community workers are well trained and well supported.

According to a global survey done of 15 countries by the World Economic Forum, India has the highest vaccine acceptance rate of 87%, followed by China (85%), South Korea (83%) and Brazil (81%). However, the number of people willing to get jabbed has increased as the number of vaccine rollouts has risen, indicating more people can be convinced.