COVID-19 vaccine - Public Perception Survey Report

Health Promotion Bureau - Behaviour Research Unit

Preliminary Report v.2.0

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Date of the Report - 2021 Jan 21

COVID-19 vaccine - Public Perception Survey Report

Summary

• Total sample size was 895, 55% were males, 81% were Sinhala, 63% were from Western province
and, 73% were having education level of a graduate or above.

• Out of the total sample 80% are currently employed and 27% of them were health care workers.
About 51% were having an income above Rs. 100,000.

• Out of the total sample 99.3% never been infected with COVID-19 as con rmed by a PCR test.

• Majority (47%) mentioned they have ‘average’ perceived risk of infection, 27.4% mentioned they
will ‘likely’ get infected and another 14% ‘very likely’ get infected.

• About 53% mentioned they are averagely ‘likely’ to get severe disease, with 13.5% and 4.6%
mentioning ‘likely’ and ‘very likely’.

• Nearly 43% responded that likelihood of the perceived protection from the vaccine was ‘average’,
32.5% ‘likely’ and, 14% 'very likely’.

• Out of the total sample only 54% mentioned that they will get the vaccine if o ered, 38% were
not sure and 8% responded that they will never get the vaccine.

• When considering the gender only 34% of the males were in the unsure group while 43% of the
females were in the unsure group.

• Nearly 55% Sinhala ethnicity responded that they will get the vaccine while 50% of the tamils,
59% of the muslims and 56% of the Burgher and 68% of the other ethnicities mentioned that
they will get the vaccine.

• Nearly 57.4% of the Healthcare workers (HCW) responded that they will get the vaccine. While
37% responded as unsure.

• Out of the persons who have known COVID-19 person close to them had a 53% vaccine
acceptance and 55% among the unknown group.

• Out of the total sample respondents with income level < Rs.25,000 had lowest vaccine
acceptance (30%) and income above Rs. 100,000 had the highest vaccine acceptance (59%).

• Majority of the public were ‘very concerned’ about the vaccine brand, side e ects and allergies
and duration of protection. A ordability had the least ‘very concerned’ proportion.

• According to the respondents ‘more details of vaccination to analyse’, 'opinion of the family
doctor’ and ‘advices of the area public health workers’ were the most helpful and very helpful
cue to action.

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 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample

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 rest of the
characteristics are given in the gures below ( gures 1-8).

Male

407, 45%
Female
488, 55%

Figure 1 - Age distribution Figure 2 - Gender

700
651
Muslim, 44, 5% Burgher, 9, 1% Other, 19,
600
2%
500
Tamil, 101, 11%
400

300

200 173

100
65
Sinhala, 722, 81% 6
0

Below GCE O/L GCE O/L Passes GCE A/L Passed Graduate or above

Figure 3 - Ethnicity Figure 4 - Level of education

Uva, 10, 1% Nothern, 44, 5%

Eastern, 28, 3%

North Central, 18,

2%

Central, 66, 8%

North Western, 48,

5%
Western, 567, 63%
Sabaragamuwa, 37,
4%

Southern, 77, 9%

Figure 5 - Province of the respondent 3 of 10

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 Health Care
Currently Workers,
Unemployed 190, 27%
, 183, 20%

Currently
Employed,
712, 80%
Other
Professions,
522, 73%

Figure 6 - Employment Figure 7 - Health care workers & other professions

Figure 8 - Monthly household income

2. COVID-19 experience of the sample

Out of the total sample 99.3% never been infected with COVID-19 as con rmed by a PCR test.
Nearly 40% new a person close to them who had been infected with COVID-19 as con rmed by a
PCR test ( gures 9-10).

Yes, 6, 1%

Yes, 355,
40%

No, 540,
60%

No, 889,
99%

Figure 9 - Self-infection Figure 10 - Person known to them is infected

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3. Perceived risk of infection and severity

Majority (47%) mentioned they have ‘average’ perceived risk of infection, 27.4% mentioned they
will ‘likely’ get infected and another 14% ‘very likely’ get infected. About 53% mentioned they are
averagely ‘likely’ to get severe disease, with 13.5% and 4.6% mentioning ‘likely’ and ‘very likely’.
Nearly 43% responded that likelihood of the perceived protection from the vaccine was ‘average’,
32.5% ‘likely’ and, 14% 'very likely’ ( gures 11-13).

Figure 11 - Likelihood of infection Figure 12 - Likelihood of severe disease

Figure 13 - Perceived likelihood of protection from the vaccine

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4. Vaccine acceptance

Out of the total sample only 54% mentioned that they will get the vaccine if o ered, 38% were not
sure and 8% responded that they will never get the vaccine ( gure 14). When considering the
gender only 34% of the males were in the unsure group while 43% were in the unsure group
(table 1).

I'm Not sure,

339, 38%

Yes, I will get the

vaccine, 488, 54%

No, I will never

get the vaccine,
68, 8%

Figure 14 - Overall vaccine acceptance

Table 1 - Gender and vaccine acceptance

Gender Vaccine_Acceptance Frequency Percent

Male Yes, I will get the Vaccine 280 57.4

No, I will never get the vaccine 42 8.6

I'm not sure 166 34.0

Total 488 100.0

Female Yes, I will get the Vaccine 208 51.1

No, I will never get the vaccine 26 6.4

I'm not sure 173 42.5

Total 407 100.0

Nearly 55% Sinhala ethnicity responded that they will get the vaccine while 50% of the tamils,
59% of the muslims and 56% of the Burgher and 68% of the other ethnicities mentioned that they
will get the vaccine (table 2). Nearly 57.4% of the Healthcare workers (HCW) responded that they
will get the vaccine. While 37% responded as unsure (table 3).

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Table 2 - Ethnicity and vaccine acceptance

Ethnicity Vaccine_Acceptance Frequency Percent

Sinhala Yes, I will get the Vaccine 394 54.6

No, I will never get the vaccine 53 7.3

I'm not sure 275 38.1

Total 722 100.0

Tamil Yes, I will get the Vaccine 50 49.5

No, I will never get the vaccine 9 8.9

I'm not sure 42 41.6

Total 101 100.0

Muslim Yes, I will get the Vaccine 26 59.1

No, I will never get the vaccine 3 6.8

I'm not sure 15 34.1

Total 44 100.0
Burgher Yes, I will get the Vaccine 5 55.6

No, I will never get the vaccine 1 11.1

I'm not sure 3 33.3

Total 9 100.0
Other Yes, I will get the Vaccine 13 68.4

No, I will never get the vaccine 2 10.5

I'm not sure 4 21.1

Total 19 100.0

Table 3 - Healthcare workers (HCW) vaccine acceptance

HCW Vaccine_Acceptance Frequency Percent

Yes Yes, I will get the Vaccine 109 57.4

No, I will never get the vaccine 11 5.8

I'm not sure 70 36.8

Total 190 100.0

No Yes, I will get the Vaccine 291 55.7

No, I will never get the vaccine 44 8.4

I'm not sure 187 35.8

Total 522 100.0

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Out of the persons who have known COVID-19 person close to them had a 53% vaccine
acceptance and 55% among the unknown group (table 4).

Table 4 - Known COVID-19 person (as con rmed by a PCR test) and vaccine acceptance
Known_COVID_Exposure Vaccine_Acceptance Frequency Percent

Yes Yes, I will get the Vaccine 189 53.2

No, I will never get the vaccine 24 6.8

I'm not sure 142 40.0

Missing 0 0.0

Total 355 100.0

No Yes, I will get the Vaccine 299 55.4

No, I will never get the vaccine 44 8.1

I'm not sure 197 36.5

Missing 0 0.0

Total 540 100.0

Out of the total sample respondents with income level < Rs.25,000 had lowest vaccine
acceptance (30%) and income above Rs. 100,000 had the highest vaccine acceptance (59%)
(table 5).

Table 5 - Monthly household income and vaccine acceptance

Monthly_HH_Income Vaccine_Acceptance Frequency Percent

25,000 or less Yes, I will get the Vaccine 19 30.2

No, I will never get the vaccine 10 15.9

I'm not sure 34 54.0

Total 63 100.0
Between 25,001 and
Yes, I will get the Vaccine 69 50.7
50,000
No, I will never get the vaccine 12 8.8

I'm not sure 55 40.4

Total 136 100.0

Between 50,001 and
Yes, I will get the Vaccine 48 48.5
75,000
No, I will never get the vaccine 11 11.1

I'm not sure 40 40.4

Total 99 100.0
Between 75,001 and
Yes, I will get the Vaccine 82 58.6
100,000
No, I will never get the vaccine 5 3.6

I'm not sure 53 37.9

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 Total 140 100.0
100,001 and above Yes, I will get the Vaccine 270 59.1

No, I will never get the vaccine 30 6.6

I'm not sure 157 34.4

Total 457 100.0

5. Public concerns about the vaccine

Majority of the public were ‘very concerned’ about the vaccine brand, side e ects and allergies
and duration of protection. A ordability had the least ‘very concerned’ proportion ( gure 15).

Less concerned Not concerned at all In the middle concerned Very concerned

Vaccine Brand

No. of doses

Duration of protection

Affroadability

Side effects and Allergies

Effectiveness

-40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 15 - Public concerns about the vaccine

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6. Cues to action

Table 16 shows cues to action. According to the respondents ‘more details of vaccination to
analyse’, 'opinion of the family doctor’ and ‘advices of the area public health workers’ were the
most helpful and very helpful cue to action ( gure 16).

Figure 16 - Cues to action

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