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The United States is not the only country in the world fighting people who are reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
New Ipsos research conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum found that residents in seven other countries were more hesitant to get the vaccine than Americans.
The report interviewed 13,500 adults from December 17 to 20 in 15 countries: Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Canada, USA, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Africa, Russia, China and France.
China reported the greatest intention to vaccinate, with 80% of respondents agreeing that they would get a vaccine if it were available. France was in the worst position, with only 40% of French residents reporting that they would receive the vaccine.
France has been criticized for the slowness of its vaccination program. As of Friday, only 80,000 French citizens had been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Neighboring Germany conducted hundreds of thousands of inoculations.
The United States was somewhere in the middle, with 69% of Americans willing to get the vaccine. Accompanying China, above the USA, were Brazil (78%), Mexico (77%), United Kingdom (77%), Australia (75%), South Korea (75%) and Canada (71%).
These countries were below the United States and above France: Germany (65%), Italy (62%), Spain (62%), Japan (60%), South Africa (53%) and Russia (43%).
In all countries, between 57% and 80% of those who say they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine mention concerns about side effects.
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“It’s a new vaccine, it didn’t exist before (and) it’s only been available for a few weeks,” said Chris Jackson, senior vice president and head of research at Ipsos. “There is a lot of concern if there is any kind of problem.”
Doubt about vaccine effectiveness is the second most common reason for non-vaccination in many countries, such as Russia, where up to 45% of respondents express these doubts.
Some research participants who would not get the vaccine did not think COVID-19 was a concern. Twenty-one percent of those who said they would not be vaccinated in the United States said they were not at risk of contracting the disease, which Jackson said could be attributed to the political climate.
“We see a significant number of people who are not going to get the COVID vaccine because they don’t think COVID is a big risk,” he said. “It says something more about politics.”
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Americans’ willingness to get the vaccine is generally increasing. Since October, the percentage of people who agree strongly or to some extent to get vaccinated has increased by five points. The proportion of those who strongly agree increased nine points.
However, Jackson is quick to point out that this may change in the future.
“(When) you take a step back, attitudes towards the vaccine and COVID are still very volatile,” he said. “None of this is set in stone.”
Contributing: Associated Press. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
USA TODAY health and safety coverage is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Health. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial contributions.