It doesn’t matter if it’s free. A recent poll found that most Ukrainians do not want to get vaccinated.
A survey of 1,600 people of ages 18 and up, conducted by the sociological group Rating, found that just 39% of Ukrainians are ready to be vaccinated against coronavirus if the vaccine is available for sale in pharmacies. Meanwhile, 56% said they are not ready.
If the vaccination is provided free of charge, only 43% of respondents are ready to receive it, compared to 52% who are not ready.
Proponents of free vaccination are relatively more common among people over the age of 50 and residents of western Ukraine and rural areas.
Vaccination opponents are relatively more common among people between ages 30-49, women, small town residents and people who are not afraid of getting sick.
Ukraine expects to receive the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine in February, within 30 days of its official registration by China, U.S., U.K., Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel, India, Mexico, Brazil or the European Union.
Ukraine has signed a $34.5 million contract with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech for at least 1.9 million doses.
Since COVID-19 vaccines are still undergoing clinical trials, Ukraine’s parliament is considering a bill to register them for emergency use.
Compared to Rating group’s November survey, fear of infection has declined among Ukrainians.
The public’s reluctance to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available in Ukraine will lead to a rapid increase in the number of deaths, according to Semen Yesylevskyy, a biophysicist and leading researcher at the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The infection will hit half of the population by summer, leading to natural immunity for those who recover and death for those who cannot cope with the disease. This means up to 100,000 additional deaths, Yesylevskyy said.
Only 40% of survey respondents believe that the Jan. 8 to Jan. 24 lockdown is effective in reducing the spread of infection. The poll found that even among those who support lockdown, a third do not consider it effective.
Read more: Everything to know about COVID vaccination in Ukraine (EXPLAINER)
