Poll: Nearly one-quarter of the Czech population refuses Covid vaccination

Prague, July 23 (CTK) - Nearly one-quarter or 23 percent of the Czech population do not intend to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but the share of those who refuse the inoculation has dropped from 33 percent in February and 26 percent in April, according to a poll conducted by the CVVM polling agency.

While 35 percent of those polled want to receive the Covid vaccination, 7 percent still hesitate. The remaining people interviewed had already received at least one jab when polled.

Two in three people say antigen testing for Covid-19 should be still free once every three days and covered by public health insurance.

While one-tenth of the respondents said they would definitely not be getting vaccinated, 13 percent said they preferred not to get inoculated but didn't rule it out.

Among people over 60, 14 percent refuse the Covid vaccination, while 2 percent are undecided. Twenty-six percent of people aged 45-59 oppose inoculation and 6 percent are reluctant to get jabbed. Among those aged 30-44, 25 percent do not want to get vaccinated and 8 percent have not yet made up their mind.

One-quarter of the polled in their twenties refuse the vaccination and 10 percent were uncertain. Among the youngest generation eligible for the Covid vaccine, three in ten people are not interested in getting vaccinated and 25 percent hesitate.

When it comes to the polled who want to get vaccinated or have already done so, they most often said they did so to remain healthy, protect themselves against an infection they worry about, and avoid developing a serious Covid condition.

Nineteen percent of the polled definitely want to get vaccinated and 16 percent rather want to do so. In this category, respondents with university education prevail in the people who want to receive the vaccine.

In mid-June, 69 percent of Czechs approached by pollsters agreed that antigen tests for Covid should be free of charge for everybody once every three days. Fifty-seven percent of the interviewed say that mass events should be open only to vaccinated or tested attendees.

Respondents were rather reluctant to see the complete lifting of anti-epidemic travel restrictions, while 29 percent would back free traveling and 64 percent were against this idea.

The CVVM poll was conducted on a sample of 957 respondents over 15 between May 29 and June 13.

On July 19, the government ruled that preventive tests for Covid will not be covered by insurance as of September 1 with the exception of children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated, people whose condition does not allow for the vaccination, and those who started but have not yet complete their vaccination.