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PUBLIC OPINION ON COVID-19 VACCINES AND VACCINATION IN BULGARIA
Penchev D.,
Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate Zlatanova-Velikova R., Petkova D. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7560316
Abstract
Vaccination is the most certain and effective means of COVID-19 prevention and of limiting the spread of the causative agent - the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This article presents and analyses the public opinion on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination in Bulgaria. The opinions of citizens on their readiness to get the vaccine, as well as on whether COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory or recommended were studied. Their informedness on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccines was also studied.
Keywords: COVID-19, vaccines, public opinion, informedness.
On a global scale, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated inevitable changes in the lifestyles of individuals and society, in work conditions, crisis management, reconstructing different areas based on new information and communication technologies, in terms of the societal and business transition towards globalization processes. [1, 2, 3] This gave a strategic importance to the lessons learned, and the measures and actions taken to overcome the disastrous consequences of this worldwide cataclysm.
Vaccination is the most certain and effective means of COVID-19 prevention and of limiting the spread of the causative agent - the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COVID-19 vaccines demonstrated great effectiveness in clinical trials before being released for public use. After the introduction and mass use of the vaccines approved in the European Union (EU), a significant drop in the serious forms of COVID-19 and the fatal outcomes was observed on a global scale. The most convincing evidence of the COVID-19 vaccines' benefits was the significant reduction of the deaths in countries with large-scale vaccination.
The goal of this article is to present and analyze the public opinion on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination in our country.
The following tasks were set in order to achieve this goal:
1. Presenting the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination
2. Studying the readiness of the respondents to get vaccinated.
3. Studying the opinions of the participants in the survey on whether COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory or recommended.
4. Studying their informedness on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Methods. To ensure the objectiveness of the observed results a questionnaire survey method was used. The survey was conducted by the means of an anonymous questionnaire with 24 closed questions. The study was carried out for the duration of a month, in the period between 01.08.2022 and 01.09.2022 [5]. The participants were kept fully anonymous in accordance with all requirements and the confidentiality code of ethics. 1861 randomly selected people aged 18 to 60+ participated in the questionnaire.
The data was statistically processed with a MS Excel spreadsheet.
Results and discussion. The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination are felt by the vaccinated individual, but also by society and the healthcare system, since they limit the spread of the pandemic [4].
The benefits for the vaccinated individual are the following:
> Vaccination protects the vaccinated from a severe course of the disease and a fatal outcome
> Vaccination limits the risk that the vaccinated individuals experience further complications from the illness and permanent consequences to their health.
> The vaccinated spread the infection to a lesser degree to others - the probability that they infect their loved ones, incl. the elderly, the chronically ill, pregnant people, and children at risk of severe illness, is smaller.
Benefits to society:
> Mass vaccination creates heard immunity and lessens the spread of the virus in the population. This leads to lesser morbidity and mortality.
> The largest scope of the vaccination (achieving heard immunity) keeps the most vulnerable groups safe, incl. people who can't be vaccinated due to medical reasons.
> The vaccinated spread the illness to a lesser degree. This means vaccination is also taking responsibility for the members of society.
> Vaccinating a large percentage of the population is a prerequisite to the lifting of the anti-epidemic measures taken due to the pandemic. This will contribute to rebuilding the proper work rhythm and normal activities of society.
Benefits to the health system:
> The vaccinated are infected with COVID-19 less often and it is rarer that they need to visit their general practitioner, be hospitalized and treated. In this way,
When asked "If you are not vaccinated, would you get vaccinated against COVID-19?" 46.8% answer in the affirmative. The gender distribution doesn't show a significant difference between the genders - 46.9% in women and 46.7% in men, which corresponds with our data. 53.2% gave the answer "no" to this question. The gender distribution here is also very similar - the women who gave a negative answer are 53.1% and this answer was given by 53.3% men.
The participants expressed concerns regarding the uncertainties about the vaccines' characteristics and
lessened - more hospital beds are free for patients who do not have COVID-19 and more people have timely access to medicines used in the treatment of COVID-19 and other illnesses.
Pandemic containment benefits:
> The slow and prolonged process of vaccinating a population increases the risks that SARS-CoV-2 will spread widely and there will be a infection of the population. This increases the risk of new virus variants and mutations, which can circumvent post-vaccine and post-infection immunity emerging. The pandemic may be restricted in a society with low vaccination, in which case SARS-CoV-2 will circulate among vulnerable persons and infect unvaccinated, vaccinated and recovered people for years to come.
1861 respondents participated in the questionnaire survey. 847 of them were women with a relative share of 45.6%, and 1011 were men - 54.4%. Three of the participants did not indicate their gender identity.
Regardless of the fears of infection present in the larger part of the population, the share of respondents, who are vaccinated is less than half the participants -48.2%. Of them 388 (46.5%) are women and 495 (50.1%) are men. The unvaccinated are 943 - 51.6%, whereby 446 (53.5%) are women and 497 (49.9%) -men.
The relative share of the vaccinated men is higher than that of the vaccinated women, while in the unvac-
about the possible side effects getting a vaccine might cause. These and other factors influence the decision of half the country's adult population (53.2%) not to get vaccinated.
There is need for a larger-scale information campaign to be conducted about the vaccines - about their characteristics and the type, which is recommended to respective groups of people. It is important that the campaign be carried out by experts in this area who can answer all questions the citizens may have about vac-
the pressure on the health system is significantly cinated the ration is the opposite (Figure 1).
42% 44% 46% 48% 50% 52% 54% Vaccinated ■ Unvaccinated
Figure 1. Distribution of the respondents according to vaccination
cination in language accessible to the public. As a result, it is probable that the attitudes to vaccination will change in some of the people and the number of the vaccinated will raise.
The absolute number and relative share of the people who believe that the vaccine should be recommended are significantly larger - 1237 of the respondents, or 67.2%. There isn't a significant difference between the genders: 565, or 67.3%, of women and 672 (67.1%) of men believe that the vaccine should be recommended rather than mandatory.
COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory according to 203 persons - 84 women and 119 men, which makes up 11.0%. The relative share of women who gave this answer is 11.0%, while the men made up 11.9%.
When asked "Are you interested in how the COVID-19 vaccines work?" 58.9% gave an affirmative answer. The women seem to show lesser interest in the vaccines' workings than the men - 53.7% of the women gave an affirmative answer compared to 63.3% of the men.
The ratio is the opposite for the "no" response. This answer was given by 41.1% of the participants. The women are less likely to show interest in the vaccine than the men - 383 (46.3%) women gave a negative response, while the men who did so were 366 (36.7%).
The respondents' opinions on whether COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory or recommended are also of interest to us. We asked a related question in our survey. The results are presented in Figure 2.
190 women answered with "I am not sure" which makes up 22.6%. 210 men also gave this answer -21.0%. A total of 400 participants didn't give a categorical response and they make up 21.7% of the ones who responded.
The survey's results point to the presence of considerable interest in the questions related to the COVID-19 vaccines' effects. The Internet is the primary information source for these questions - 29.8% of the respondents. 29.5% of the women and 30.1% of the men rely primarily on information acquired online. Internet information resources seem to be used as a source of information more by the younger participants and by the respondents who live in the bigger cities of the country. 26% of Bulgarian citizens get their information from news and programs seen on television, and the third most popular was the official specialized webpage (Single information portal) - 15.9%. There is a not insubstantial share of the adult population (14.1%) who answer that they are not interested in the topic and don't search for information on it. More often these groups are made up of people who do not fear contagion, young people and people who have little education (Figure 3).
0%
Men Women Total
■ Mandatory ■ Recommended I am not sure
Figure 2. In your opinion, should COVID-19 vaccination be mandatory or recommended?
Figure 3. From where would you get information on questions about the effects of COVID-19 vaccines?
I don't seek information on the topic/The question doesn't interest me
Press
14,1%
4,4%
Radio 3,2%
Relatives/friends/acquaintances
The specialized webpage (Single information portal)
Internet
6,7%
15,9%
9,8%
TV P 26,0%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Based on this analysis of the citizens' opinion on vaccines and COVID-19 vaccination in our country, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. The citizens participating in the survey who were vaccinated against COVID-19 are 48.2%, whereby 53.1% were unvaccinated, which means there is need for a larger-scale information campaign about the vaccines to be conducted - about their characteristics and the type, which is recommended to respective groups of people.
2. More than 2/3 of those who responded to the questionnaire believe the COVID-19 vaccine should be recommended. The portion of participants who answered "I am not sure" is twice as big as that of the participants who believe the vaccine should be mandatory.
3. The main information source for questions related to COVID-19 vaccines used by the respondents is the Internet (29.8%), followed by television (26%) and the official specialized webpage (Single information portal) - 15.9%.
Conclusion. Achieving high rates of COVID-19 vaccination in the population, as well as seasonal influenza vaccination, helps reduce the spread of new virus variants and the possibility for their emergence. As of 01.09.2022 there have been 12.5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, which makes it one of the most used and constantly monitored medical products in human history.
Our country is still in the last places in the EU when it comes to the total number of vaccinated citizens and in one of the first places where it comes to COVID-
19 mortality. This is despite the categorical scientific and statistical data showing that the vaccines prevent severe outcomes of the illness, further complications and death. All of this necessitates larger-scale information campaigns targeted at the public, which will answer the questions everyone is asking by providing science-based information on the vaccines and vaccination.
References
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2. Zlatanova T. (2021) Economic and Social Development in the EU Countries following the Covid Pandemic - 19, Fortysixth Scientific and Technological Session, CONTACT 2021, June 24, 2021, ed. TEMPO, pp. 94-99, ISSN online 2738-8174, ISSN print 1313 -9134 [In Bulgarian]
3. Zlatanova T., N. Popov, E. Encheva-Stoy-kova, HEALTH INEQUALITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF COVID 19, Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 19, Suppl. 2, pp 84-87, 2021 Copyright © 2021 Trakia University, Available online at: http://www.uni-sz.bg, ISSN 1313-3551 (online) doi:10.15547/tjs.2021.s.02.015
4. https://plusmen.bg/
5. https://srzi.bg/
