快猫短视频

If the huge challenge of getting covid-19 vaccines to low-income countries can be overcome, will people even want them? The first study to explore the question suggests the answer is an overwhelming yes.

On average, 80.3 per cent of people in 10 low and middle-income countries said they would take a covid-19 vaccine when it became available, according to phone surveys of 46,000 people between June and January. That is much higher than in some high-income countries, such as the 64.6 per cent willing to take one in the US.

The first doses from the international programme for distributing covid-19 vaccines to the world鈥檚 poorest countries, COVAX, were given on 1 March in Ghana. Yet little was known about views in those countries on the rapidly developed vaccines until the new study, which hasn鈥檛 yet been peer-reviewed.

Previous research in low and middle-income countries has found a high willingness to take vaccines generally, which is thought to be partly because diseases such as measles and polio are still in the collective memory, says Mushfiq Mobarak at Yale University, an author on the new study.

The main reason given for accepting a covid-19 vaccine was self-protection, with safety and efficacy was most often cited among those who would reject it.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good news, conditional on getting people to follow through with their intention. For the remainder, the 20 per cent, the data gave us some clues on the sort of messaging we should highlight. They are telling us they鈥檙e concerned about safety and efficacy,鈥� says Mobarak. The surveys also revealed that the most trusted messengers on vaccines weren鈥檛 celebrities but healthcare workers, which Mobarak says should be factored into public health campaigns.

The average acceptance of 80.3 per cent across 10 countries masked a range of 66.5 per cent at the lowest, in Burkina Faso and Pakistan, and 96.6 per cent at the highest, in Nepal. Acceptance seemed to be unaffected by income and education levels. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the case that high socio-economic status folks are more likely to take the vaccines,鈥� says Mobarak.

If the intent of survey respondents translates into actual vaccination uptake, such rates would 鈥渇ar exceed鈥� the levels needed for covid-19 herd immunity, the researchers note.

The findings could have ramifications for how high-income countries with rapid vaccination programmes, such as the UK and Israel, distribute any leftover supplies in the face of vaccine hesitancy.

鈥淥ne key message this data tells us is maybe we should be prioritising people in poorer countries because it鈥檚 an easier sell. Rather than spending a lot of effort trying to get the last 30 per cent of people in Europe and the US, convincing them to get vaccinated, we鈥檇 get more bang for our buck [by focusing on low and middle income countries],鈥� says Mobarak.