Ipsos research: Half of the citizens of Montenegro who have not been vaccinated plan to do so, a third say they will not

Nearly three-quarters of Montenegrin citizens believe that vaccination against the coronavirus should be a priority both for the Government of Montenegro and for all citizens.

These are the results of the latest survey conducted by the Ipsos agency at the end of July in Montenegro, on a nationally representative sample, UNICEF in Montenegro announced today.

The announcement states that the research was conducted with the support of the Delegation of the European Union and UNICEF.

"Also, research by Ipsos on this topic conducted during this year shows that the number of citizens who will not be vaccinated from January to July of the current year fell from 44 to 35 percent," the announcement reads.

The director of the Ipsos research agency in Montenegro, Vladimir Raičević, said that the coronavirus pandemic is still both a global and a local danger.

"Most citizens recognize the importance of vaccination as an opportunity to protect ourselves from potential complications of this disease," Raičević said.

UNICEF said that according to the latest Ipsos survey, "half of Montenegrin citizens who have not yet been vaccinated against the coronavirus plan to do so, while a third say they will not be vaccinated".

"The rest are still undecided. Among the undecided, there are more often people who say that they are not sufficiently informed on this topic, while among those who do not want to be vaccinated, there are more often people who do not trust health institutions and who are not worried about contracting the coronavirus, as well as those who doubt all vaccines and believe they should be avoided in general," UNICEF said in a statement.

The head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro, Juan Santander, said that all data indicate that we must continue to strengthen trust in health institutions, experts and science.

"We need to do this through continuous dialogue and even better cooperation between health and scientific institutions, the media and citizens by focusing on talking about those issues that people are still confused or worried about," Santander said.

In a statement, UNICEF said that the concern that the vaccine against COVID-19 passed clinical trials too quickly and the fear of possible side effects are the two main reasons that citizens cite to explain why they do not want to be vaccinated, and therefore key topics for public dialogue with experts.

"Every second citizen is informed about vaccines through television, every third through a conversation with a doctor, every fourth through a conversation with friends and acquaintances, and every fifth through the Internet. These data indicate the significant social responsibility of television and its great potential for contributing to adequate information of citizens about coronavirus and vaccines. Almost all citizens of Montenegro, 90 percent of them, agree with the statement that vaccines are one of the best medical inventions thanks to which many infectious diseases have been eradicated. Only 1 in 10 disagrees, and among them are more often citizens who are not worried about the coronavirus, who do not trust health institutions and who do not plan to get vaccinated against the coronavirus," UNICEF said in a statement.

It is also stated that the nationally representative sample for this research included 830 citizens aged 18 and over.

"Data collection was carried out in the period from July 19 to 24 of this year, through a telephone survey, i.e. a questionnaire, the average duration of which was 10 minutes. The key findings of this research, as well as previous research on the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of citizens in related to the coronavirus, are available on the website of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro. IPSOS research on the coronavirus is part of an initiative aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening routine immunization services, which is carried out by UNICEF with local partners and funded by the European Union ", concludes the UNICEF announcement.