MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. The majority of Russian citizens are ready to get a vaccine against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, if it is free. Meanwhile, 25% of Russians would not get a vaccine, a poll held by the Anti-Crisis Sociological Center informs.If a vaccine against the novel coronavirus is developed and if vaccination is free, the majority of those polled (63%) are ready to get a vaccine against the virus. Meanwhile, 24% of respondents said that they would not get a vaccine, while 13% did not provide an answer.According to the poll, women aged 25-44 are especially suspicious of getting a vaccine, with 31% saying that they do not plan on getting one. This tendency has been noted despite women being more scared on average of contracting the virus than men.Among those who do not fear contracting the virus, 26% do not plan on getting a vaccine. Meanwhile, 29% of those who do not fear that their loved ones might contract the virus said the same.About 11% of those polled think it is not necessary to get vaccinated: 5% of parents refuse to vaccinate their children. About 25% of respondents get vaccines selectively, refusing to get “unnecessary” or “harmful” ones.”One in four people are not ready to vaccinate themselves against the coronavirus today. This is only partly due to those who oppose all vaccines as a matter of principle. In a situation that concerns their life and health, people tend to be suspicious of everything new. People are afraid of what has not been verified, of unpredictable consequences. It is notable that some people are convinced that the vaccine is harmful. In this situation, the role of expert communication, professional and open dialogue with the public becomes more important,” Maria Makusheva, head of the social design center “Platform” informs.The respondents have also been asked whether they find it necessary to get tested for the virus without symptoms. “16% think that it must be done, 38% say that they might get tested if the test is free. 39% of those polled think that there is no need to get tested if they do not have any symptoms,” the poll says.According to the research, self-isolation negatively affects the physical and mental health of many of those polled. 35% of respondents have notes some negative consequences of self-isolation. “However, there are some who are feeling better: they are getting more sleep, eating healthy food and doing physical exercise,” the researchers note. 31% of those polled said that they had gained weight during self-isolation, while 9% noted that they had lost some.The data represents Russia’s online audience over 18 residing in cities with the population of over 100,000. The sampling size is 1,000 respondents. The data was collected on April 24.In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus – named COVID-19 by the WHO – have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,100,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 218,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 959,700 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.To date, a total of 99,399 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 10,286 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 972 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
