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07th Dec 2020

More than a third of Britons don’t want to take vaccine, according to polling

Those opposed said they were concerned about safety and side effects

Oli Dugmore

People said they were concerned about safety and side effects

New polling shows that more than a third of people don’t want to take the coronavirus vaccine.

48 per cent of people worried about vaccination were concerned about its safety, 47 per cent its effectiveness and 55 per cent its side effects.

60 per cent of survey respondents said they were expecting access to a vaccine “for people like them” by April, as the UK became the first country in the world to approve use of the Pfizer vaccine.

One in three people, 35 per cent, said it was unlikely they would get the vaccine at all.

The research by Opinium also showed that 39 per cent of people favour the loosening of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas and gave Labour a two point lead on the Tories nationally.

Adam Drummond from Opinium told The Observer: “This suggests that any political benefit for the government will likely instead come later on, when people begin receiving the vaccine, life begins to return to normal and the economy can begin to recover.

“The question then is whether or not this potentially optimistic picture ends up being disrupted by the impact of the end of the Brexit transition period, particularly in the event of no trade deal being reached.”

Only 10 per cent of people believed Matt Hancock’s claim that Brexit fastened the UK’s process of vaccine approval and 24 per cent said it may actually have hindered it.

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