For some time now, progress in CoV vaccination in Austria has stagnated. According to the latest data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project (ACPP), the pool of those ready to be vaccinated is “almost completely exhausted, only the hesitant or indecisive and not ready to vaccinate remain,” said the corresponding blog entry.
The blog reports on the current results of the ACPP. It is a panel survey conducted by the University of Vienna with a sample of 1,500 people that represents the socio-demographic structure of the Austrian population.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists have been questioning the same people on a regular basis in order to be able to track changes in a time of rapid upheaval. The most recent survey took place in September.
Dynamic changes in vaccination readiness
It was found that in the observation period from May 2020 to September 2021, willingness to vaccinate in Austria was subject to dynamic changes. It fell from 46 percent to 32 percent between May 2020 and October or December 2020. Since the approved vaccines were available, the combined proportion of those who were ready to vaccinate and those who had already been vaccinated increased steadily in the months that followed.
However, the increase slowed recently, it said in the blog post. According to the available data, around 75 percent of those surveyed were vaccinated in September (at least one dose). One percent was still ready to be vaccinated, eight percent hesitant or indecisive and 17 percent not ready to be vaccinated.
Willingness to vaccinate children relatively low
A closer look was also taken at the willingness to vaccinate children. This has increased, but remains relatively low, it said. In September around 30 percent of people who live in a household with children up to 14 years of age stated that they wanted their children to be vaccinated as soon as possible. For comparison: In June it was 21 percent.
With regard to this result, it was pointed out that the group of respondents was significantly smaller than the total sample, which means that the estimates are generally associated with greater uncertainty. In addition, the age of the children should play a role, it was also said.