Date Published: 07/10/2021
ARCHIVED - What are they thinking? New study targets anti-vaxxers in Spain
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Are they Covid deniers or just afraid of needles? Spain’s Ministry of Health is hoping to get inside the heads of 3.7 million unvaccinated young people
The Spanish health authorities have launched a new study called “Haven’t been vaccinated against
Covid-19? Do you want to tell us why?” to gather data on that small part of the Spanish population that has not yet been vaccinated and doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. Despite Spain having one of the highest vaccination levels in the world, with over 77% of the population now double jabbed, the Ministry of Health has launched an investigation into the continued reluctance of under-40s to get vaccinated and has decided to try to get to know them better.
Who they are and what their socioeconomic status is; why they refuse to be vaccinated; who they’re getting their anti-vax information from; and what it would take to change their minds – these are all questions that the study by the Carlos III Health Institute aims to answer about the 3.7 million people yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine in Spain.
“The idea is to inform the government about people who are more reticent [about vaccines] in order to be able to direct policies, communication and information campaigns”, explained Maria Joao Forjaz, one of the two researchers in charge of the study.
While almost all people in Spain over 40 years old are vaccinated, with 93.8% having been double jabbed, the younger age group between 19 and 40 is worrying. “We know that for under-40s there is a vaccination rate below 80% and we want to increase it, the government is very interested in knowing a little better their reasons [for not getting vaccinated],” said Forjaz.
Why don’t people want to get Covid-19 vaccinations?
The survey asks questions about whether people refuse to get vaccinated because they are afraid of needles, if it’s because they don’t know what side-effects it could have, conflicting information over the safety of vaccines for pregnant women, or whether it’s actually part of a broader rejection of everything to do with the pandemic, including wearing a facemask.
As well as hoping to delve more into the minds of both vaccine deniers, also included are questions about whether participants only trust “natural medicine”, whether they don’t want to get vaccinated for “religious reasons”, or whether there are simply barriers to them accessing vaccination centres but they would like to get jabbed.
Like this article?
Get more like this delivered straight to your inbox every week.
>>>ESSENTIAL WEEKEND READING<<<
Image: Archive