More than half of citizens in Montenegro intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19
A new survey on the attitudes of citizens in Montenegro towards COVID-19 indicates that vaccination intent is on the rise, currently at 51 per cent, compared to 44 per cent in January 2021
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PODGORICA, 5 March 2021 – A new survey on the attitudes of citizens in Montenegro towards COVID-19 indicates that vaccination intent is on the rise, currently at 51 per cent, compared to 44 per cent in January 2021. The survey was conducted by Ipsos in February on a nationally representative sample, with the support of the British Embassy Podgorica and UNICEF.
These findings correspond to the global trends recorded in the most recent Ipsos global COVID-19 survey conducted in January 2021, where the percentage of those who strongly agree they will get vaccinated has increased in just one month, in every one of the 15 countries tracked.
The countries that are being tracked through the global survey include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Vaccination intent is highest in Brazil, China, Mexico, Italy and Spain (80 per cent intent or more).
Both surveys also have in common a trend in widespread demand for getting vaccinated as soon as possible. The February COVID-19 opinion survey in Montenegro found that 53 per cent of citizens who intend to get vaccinated, would get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine becomes available, while in January this figure was 49 per cent. In 11 of the 15 countries surveyed globally, most of those who agree that they will get the vaccine say they plan to do so immediately or within one month of it being available to them.
In addition to a growing intention to get vaccinated, the percentage of those agreeing with the claim that vaccines are one of the best inventions in medicine and that many infectious diseases have been eradicated thanks to them grew in Montenegro from 74 in January to 80 per cent in February.
Vaccination uptake remains crucial for the healthy lives of children, adolescents, families and communities. The current COVID-19 outbreak is putting at risk the continuation of immunization programmes due to lockdowns and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, and we need to ensure that all children in Montenegro catch up with their routine immunization schedule.
The survey also shows that more than two-thirds (76%) of citizens believe that vaccination should be a priority for both the government and the citizens of Montenegro.
It is good news for Montenegro that trust is growing here in vaccinations to control the spread of COVID-19. The government is rolling out its vaccination programme now and we owe it to the vulnerable members of our communities to get ourselves vaccinated when it is our turn to do so. Then we can really start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, get our economies open, and move on with our lives.
In Montenegro, concerns regarding the speed at which new vaccines have been approved and their possible side-effects remain the two main reasons why the citizens of Montenegro are hesitant about immunization against COVID-19.
The nationally representative sample for this survey consists of 820 citizens aged 18 and over. Data collection was conducted through a telephone survey, with a questionnaire lasting an average length of 10 minutes, in the period from 12 to 16 February of this year. The key findings of this survey, as well as previous surveys, on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of citizens regarding coronavirus are available on the UNICEF Montenegro website.
About vaccines:
Vaccines are among the greatest advances of modern medicine. Since the late 18th century, they have reduced the scourge of numerous infectious diseases and have saved millions of lives. Smallpox, which killed 300 million people in the 20th century alone, was successfully eradicated in 1979 thanks to the roll-out of a safe and effective vaccine. Thanks to vaccines, polio, a dangerous disease which has killed millions and left millions more paralysed or disabled, remains endemic in only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. Thanks to vaccines, maternal and neonatal tetanus, which is fatal in new-borns, has been eliminated in all but 12 countries, as of July 2019.
