t.
General enquiries:
We entered November with the exciting news that there have been significant breakthroughs in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Most notable, for us in the UK is the news that the University of Oxford have developed a vaccine which suggests 70% protection and even up to 90% depending on dosage. The Government have rushed to buy 100 million doses and have prepared a 10-stage plan to vaccinate the most at-risk people first.
The news is undoubtedly positive. While there is still a way to go, we wanted to find out initial reactions from the public.
We polled over 700 members of our UK QuMind panel to find out whether they would be willing to take the vaccine if offered. Overwhelming the majority said they would be likely to be willing to get vaccinated (and 75% would be very or quite willing).
We also asked members in an online forum to find out more and over 100 people engaged in the conversation. Reactions were underlined mainly with joy and hope, particularly for those in more vulnerable groups, many of whom have had to shield continually:
“Lead me to it! My husband and I are both elderly and vulnerable; we will grab at the vaccine as soon as our turn comes.”
“If offered, I’ll be first in the queue. I am 76, told to shield due to ongoing medical conditions so have not been out of my flat, apart from going out of the block to put my rubbish in the bin, and starting the car up regularly. I had a new car delivered in April and have only done 15 miles in it since it was delivered!”
“I would jump at the opportunity to have the vaccine, in my view the risks of not having it are far higher than having it. I am in a vulnerable age group and think it is a no brainer- it is the way we have to go.“
A common theme running through was the hope that a vaccine, once widely available, would help us to return to some degree of normality.
“I’ll be straight there to get mine and as my partner is a key worker he’ll be getting his too. If it was available to buy, I’d be digging into my savings to get a vaccine so I can get life back to normal.”
“Any vaccine that gives a chance of normalcy is most welcome.”
“I can’t wait. I want it as soon as possible. Hopefully, this will allow us to return to the new normal sometime next year.”
Whilst there was optimism in abundance, there was still some caution in some quarters with calls for extra checks and evidence that it is working with no side effects, and hesitancy to be amongst the first to have it.
“Very pleased that there are now vaccines available, but they are all very new and I think need more testing to find out about side effects.”
“I know they’ve had volunteers, and all been OK, but I wouldn’t [have it] as normally it takes many years to produce. I will wait for others first.“
As it stands, things are looking positive for the next year. Look out for our round up article in a couple of weeks which will look at people’s hopes and plans for 2021 and also any positive learnings to take away from this out-of-the-ordinary year.
Do more with less – Agile Insight platforms by QuMind
By centralising all your insight tools, QuMind enables you to drive time and cost efficiencies through your organisation whilst taking back control of your insights. Our toolkit empowers you to make faster agile decisions in an ever changing business environment. Put your customer at the heart of your organisation with the QuMind agile insight toolkit.
Our platform is AI powered with integrated Quant & Qual tools enabling you to collect data across methodologies in one place. It boasts self-serve data collection surveys, pop-up communities, online Qual (diaries/focus groups), pop-up community, dashboards and reporting analysis tools. Text and video analytics ensure you get quick insights from your insight studies.
Want to take back control of your research, doing even more with less? Get in touch with [email protected].
