Do we trust vaccinations? There is an EC report

This is the third, after 2018 and 2020, edition of the report. What the authors - and the commenting representatives of the EC - point out, apart from the global decline in the level of trust, is the emergence of a large generation gap. People over 65 still, in the vast majority, trust vaccinations. The youngest adults (aged 18-34) are skeptical of them or even turn away.

At the moment, 81.5 percent. of EU citizens think vaccines are important, 85.6% assesses that they are effective, and 82.3 percent – that they are safe. However, there are huge differences between countries. There are countries where the level of trust in the safety, effectiveness and importance of vaccinations oscillates around 90%. (eg Portugal and Spain), there are those (Bulgaria, Slovakia) where vaccination is "traditionally" postponed. In the last two years, however, there has been a decline in faith in vaccination in many countries - this applies, for example, to the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Poland, globally, does not fare badly - we are very close to the EU average, if we take into account the general question about vaccinations.

We are worse in details - we do not trust the influenza vaccination too much, the level of trust in the HPV vaccine is also low, it is worth noting that it has significantly decreased over the last two years, while Poland is currently the only EU country that has yet Vaccines are not 100% reimbursed.

The authors of the report clearly point out that in the case of this vaccination, the level of trust (in validity, safety and effectiveness) has clearly decreased over the course of two years in almost all EU countries - Poland stands out against this background in that we are the last country where vaccination is not reimbursed. In the case of HPV vaccination, the level of confidence has decreased practically across the EU, according to the report.

The report also asked questions about the attitudes of medical professionals to vaccination. The smallest countries, Luxembourg and Malta, fared best. 100 percent there. of respondents trust vaccination, the same is true in Estonia (over 99%). Medics answered questions about whether they would recommend specific vaccinations to their patients. In the case of Poland, there are no doubts about the MMR vaccination - almost 99% would recommend it. surveyed. Just over 94% would recommend influenza vaccination, and only 86.4% would recommend it. would recommend vaccination to a pregnant woman. In the case of HPV vaccination, 92.3% of respondents declare their recommendation. medics. The COVID-19 vaccination has fared surprisingly badly. Only 89.4 percent medics would recommend this vaccination to their patients, and 83.9 percent. would recommend that a pregnant woman be vaccinated against COVID-19.