Public attitudes to coronavirus: November update

6. Vaccines

The vaccination programme was underway throughout the period from March to August. At the beginning of March (2-3), 37% of respondents had received their first Covid vaccine and 2% had received both a first and second dose. At 1-2 June, over half of respondents had received both vaccines and by 24-25 August, 85% of respondents had received both doses,.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=807-1055)

**Note response “I have received an invitation for second vaccination, but have not yet been vaccinated” added from 4-5 May

Respondents who had not received either a first or second vaccine were asked, on a scale of 0-10, how likely or unlikely they were to be vaccinated for Coronavirus when a vaccine became available to them. If respondents had already received a first vaccination, they were asked how likely or unlikely they were to have their second. As shown in Figure 32, at the beginning of March 87% of respondents said they would be highly likely (score 8-10) to be vaccinated. 3% of respondents said they would be highly unlikely (score 0-2) to be vaccinated and 9% were undecided (scoring either 3-7 or ‘don’t know’). From March through to mid-June over 8 in 10 respondents continued to score 8-10 on their willingness to receive a vaccine. From mid-June onwards, the proportion of respondents who said they were highly unlikely to be vaccinated (score 0-2) increased. However, of note, the sample size reduced as there were increasingly fewer respondents who had yet to receive a first or second vaccine (from 383 respondents in mid-June to 80 respondents at the end of August).

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults who are awaiting either their 1st or their 2nd vaccination (n=80-988)

On 21-22 April, respondents who had said they would be extremely unlikely, or undecided about getting a Covid vaccination (score 0-7) were asked why they were unlikely to get a vaccine. 47% of respondents were concerned about the safety of the vaccines, although of note, this was based on a low sample size (n=92).

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults ranked 0-7 on likelihood to get a vaccine (n=92) 20-21 Apr

Certification

At 24-25 August, respondents were asked their views about a possible Covid certification scheme for access to venues such as stadiums, arenas and nightclubs.

74% of respondents (excluding those who selected not applicable) either ‘tend to’ or ‘strongly’ agree that they would be happy to use a certificate if it allowed them entry to such a venue. 62% agree a scheme would make them feel more comfortable attending a venue or event. However, 67% agreed they were worried that the system was not fool-proof, and 50% agreed that even if vaccinated they would prefer that everyone do a test beforehand, rather than sharing vaccination status.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (excluding N/A)(n=799-846)

As shown in Figure 35, respondents were also asked how likely they would be to download and use an app which could offer digital proof of Covid vaccination and/or outcome of a recent PCR Test to enable entry to certain venues, allow participation in certain activities or allow international travel. 55% of respondents reported that they definitely/probably would, and 23% of respondents would definitely/probably not, download and use an app.

Source: YouGov Scotland survey. Base: Adults (n=1007)