Survey Shows That Not Everyone in S’pore is Keen on Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

Recently, it’s been reported that progress several COVID-19 vaccines have been made.

And I’m pretty sure most of us jumped in joy when hearing the news.

And you’d probably think that after seeing how much damage that virus has done, everyone would want to get one.

Well, most people do, at least.

Survey Shows That Not Everyone in S’pore is Keen on Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

The Straits Times recently commissioned a survey with 1,000 people who are 16 years old and above.

In partnership with Milieu Insight, it was to see how many people would want to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

This took place between 3 to 7 Dec.

You’d have thought that everyone would agree to get vaccinated,

No.

Among them, around 80 per cent answered that they would get vaccinated. Half of these even said they’ll get it the moment it becomes available.

However, 18 per cent of the surveyed said otherwise, even if the vaccine came within the next year.

Half from this group also say that they would consider getting one eventually.

In total, 48 per cent will get a vaccine when it comes, 34 per cent will wait six to 12 months, and nine per cent will consider getting vaccinated eventually.

The remaining nine per cent said they won’t get a COVID-19 vaccine at all.

Still, there might be a good reason for this slight wariness.

Potential Side Effects

A source of fear that was cited was from potential side effects from the vaccine.

This might be likely referring to an incident during the UK’s mass vaccination recently.

Two people reported adverse effects on the first day of the mass vaccination to the Pfizer vaccine.

They allegedly had anaphylaxis, and the British health authorities have since warned away anyone with such allergies to avoid the vaccine.

However, some milder side effects are to be expected in vaccinations generally.

Some of these can include headaches, mild fevers or chest pains.

In fact, side effects could also be a sign that your body is slowly building immunity.

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, the chief health scientist at Singapore’s Health Ministry, assured that monitoring for side effects will be done seriously.

Especially since most vaccines take a few years to develop, and Pfizer’s vaccine came slightly under a year. People might be worried that the vaccine was rushed.

He has also acknowledged that these vaccines are new, so concerns are normal.

“On the other hand, we have an established process for reviewing new drugs, new vaccines. And the process has to be done stringently and thoroughly, to make sure that the things that are approved are safe and efficacious.”

Prof Tan understands the decision to wait but says it’s a choice that will affect everyone.

He mentioned that high vaccination rates will help develop faster herd immunity, and urges people to look up and understand more about vaccinations.

Singaporeans Generally Open To Vaccine

The Straits Times also reported that poll showed Singaporeans were still more open to a vaccine despite some scepticism compared to other countries like the US, whereby there’s an anti-vaxxer movement.

In fact, Singapore Airlines is already preparing for vaccination transportation.

Moderna, one of the companies who’ve made a COVID-19 vaccine, has also been discussing with Singapore about bringing their doses here.

We might even get it this month or in January 2021 once authorities are “comfortable” with the data.

Prof Tan also said that we should not only rely on one source for a vaccine.

The US Food and Drug Administration also reportedly authorised Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on 11 Dec as well.

It was tested on 44,000 people prior and found to be 95 per cent successful.

This one has also been cleared by other countries like Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

If proven successful, we might see it be brought to Singapore in the future as well.

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