More say ‘no’ than ‘yes’ to Covid vaccines

8th December 2020

• Scepticism from parents as 43% would decline to vaccinate themselves

• 42% would take up a vaccine, and 14% are undecided

• 46% would say no to vaccinating their children

On what is being dubbed ‘V Day’ as the first Covid 19 vaccinations are administered in the UK, a poll of over 6,000 parents conducted on the Facebook page of the UK’s leading childcare site, Childcare.co.uk, has found that more 43% say they do not plan to get vaccinated against Covid 19. 42% said they do plan to take up the vaccine, and another 14% are undecided.

Similarly, when it comes to their children, most say they do not plan to vaccinate their children when a vaccine becomes available for them to do so. 46% say no, and 34% say yes, with almost 20% unsure what they will choose to do.

When asked to tick statements they agreed with about the vaccine, 57% said “The vaccine is too new and we don't yet know that it is safe” - the most commonly ticked statement. And 32% ticked: “I think it is my duty to get myself and my children vaccinated as soon as possible.”

1 in 5 believed “Children do not need a vaccination as they are virtually immune to the virus.”

1 in 5 parents also say they would pay for the vaccine privately. The sum of money most people would be willing to pay for a private vaccination would be £20, although 1 in 5 said they would pay £100.

Richard Conway, founder of Childcare.co.uk says:

“Today is a truly exciting day for the country, with the vaccine rollout bringing hope that we can all get back to normal again. We were surprised to see that there is so much scepticism about whether the vaccination is too new to be trusted, and also whether children even need to be vaccinated. At Childcare.co.uk we believe we all need to work together to beat the virus and I would encourage people to take it up.”