Study Examines How Greeks Feel About Covid-19 Vaccination

Photo source: diaNEOsis

The majority (94.4 percent) of Greeks believe that vaccination against Covid-19 saves lives with one in two saying they feel psychologically more secure after, found a study released recently by research and policy institute diaNEOsis.

The study, which provides a closer look at how Greeks feel about vaccination and the pandemic, also found that nine in 10 believe that hygiene, masks and social distancing measures helped address the pandemic while seven in 10 (68.4 percent) believe the worst is behind us. Approximately 70 percent expect a return to normalcy after 2022.

A large part of the optimism has to do with vaccination, said diaNEOsis analysts. According to the findings, so far 38.9 percent of those surveyed says they had received at least one dose, while 44.2 percent of those said they had completed vaccination.

A vast majority (97.8 percent) said they were satisfied with the vaccination procedure.

At the same time, one in two Greeks agree to the idea of a vaccination certificate.

With regard to work, two in three said they have returned to their work place (63.8 percent) with one in five still working from home.

More than half (57.2 percent) – mostly older generation Greeks – believe that Greece is headed in the right direction while 32.3 percent think the opposite.

Photo source: diaNEOsis

At the same time, younger generations feel the pandemic was not handled in the right way. Indicatively 73.9 percent aged 17-24 said so compared to 69.1 percent of those 65 years or older who are satisfied with the crisis management.

Younger crowds also feel strongly about lifting lockdown measures much earlier at 59.7 percent against 28.5 percent among the 65+ who thought so.

Other key takeaways include:

– the majority (80.4 percent) consider Covid-19 to be a threat to society

– half feel it is highly possible to become infected with coronavirus compared to 32 percent in September 2020 while two in three believe that if they do come down with Covid-19 they are in serious danger

– 6 percent of Greeks polled said they had already been infected and 12.9 percent that someone in their family had

– 52.6 percent have received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 12,7 percent were vaccinated with Moderna, and 2.1 percent with Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

– Almost half said they had “minor side effects” with 56.1 percent saying they didn’t have any at all

-the majority of Greeks would have chosen the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine if they could.

Overall, study findings reveal that Greeks’ attitudes toward vaccination have changed since December 2020 when 14.3 percent said they would not get vaccinated down to 6.2 percent today.