More and more citizens are willing to get vaccinated, according to the findings of a new survey by diaNEOsis, in collaboration with the polling company Metron Analysis, which records the attitudes and opinions of Greeks between October 5 and 14, 2021, regarding vaccinations and the impact of the pandemic on their lives.
According to the content director of diaNEOsis, Thodoris Georgakopoulos, 77% of the survey sample (which includes only citizens over the age of 17 who speak Greek) state that they have received at least one dose of the vaccine (up from 39% in May 2021), while 75% are fully vaccinated. A percentage of 81% of those vaccinated state that they will also take the booster (or “reminder” as it is often referred to) dose of the vaccine when given the opportunity. It is interesting to note that the percentage of those willing to receive the booster dose is very high in all age groups, including 17-24 year olds (77%). It should be noted that during the period when the survey was conducted, 9% of Greeks stated that they had contracted Covid (up from 6% in May 2021).
The attitude of Greeks towards vaccinating children is also noteworthy. In May 2021, shortly before the EMA approved the use of the vaccine for children aged 12 and over in Europe, 58.11% of Greek parents said they would not vaccinate their children. Today, however, 6 out of 10 parents of children over the age of 12 say that their children have either already been vaccinated (38%) or are going to be vaccinated (20%). At the same time, only 1 in 3 parents of children under the age of 12 say that their children will be vaccinated when the vaccine is approved for them. In addition, 1 in 5 say they have not yet decided, and almost half (46%) say their children will not be vaccinated. It should be noted that the vaccine for children aged 5-11 has been approved in the US, while the EMA's decision for EU countries is expected in the coming weeks.
The survey shows that the percentage of vaccinated people increases with age and educational level, while vaccination rates below 65% are found only among farmers, the unemployed, those who declare their occupation as “homemaker,” and those who live in areas with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. Of those who have been vaccinated, 58% say they decided on their own, while 1 in 4 say they were encouraged by their doctor. Furthermore, 1 in 4 of those vaccinated say that they had initially decided not to be vaccinated, but then changed their minds. Similarly, among those who were not vaccinated (23% of the total), the same percentage (58%) stated that they decided not to be vaccinated on their own. One in five say they were influenced “by what they have read or heard” and only one in ten because they were discouraged from getting vaccinated by their doctor. Of this 23%, however, about half say they had decided not to get vaccinated from the outset, while the other half say they intended to get vaccinated but changed their minds. More than half of the unvaccinated say today that they will not be vaccinated (“probably not” and “definitely not”). This is 15% of the total sample. When asked if they would get vaccinated if vaccination became mandatory for everyone, 41% of those who were not vaccinated (a percentage corresponding to approximately 800,000 citizens) said no.
With regard to the mandatory nature of vaccination and the rights of vaccinated/unvaccinated individuals in society, the vast majority of citizens are in favor of mandatory vaccination for certain population groups. Seven out of ten citizens believe that vaccination should be mandatory for teachers, another seven out of ten believe the same for uniformed personnel, while three out of four believe it should be mandatory for healthcare workers. However, only slightly more than half of the total sample believe that vaccination should be mandatory for all citizens. Seven in ten vaccinated people believe that their unvaccinated fellow citizens “are not well informed” and that “there are opportunists who deliberately mislead them.” Six in ten argue that “their behavior is antisocial” and 4 out of 10 that “they are dangerous and avoid them.” At the same time, however, 7 out of 10 vaccinated people believe that it is “their right” not to be vaccinated. It should be noted that half of Greeks believe that every citizen has the right to request services only from vaccinated people—the other half disagree.
Back to normal everyday life
At the same time, a form of normal daily life is now developing in certain aspects of social and economic activity. According to the survey, 83% of employees are now working normally at their workplace and only 10% are now working remotely. It should be noted that in April 2020, only 1 in 4 Greeks were working normally at their workplace—another 1 in 4 were teleworking, and the rest were on some form of furlough or leave.
The individual findings show that Greek citizens are divided into two categories: half believe that our country is heading in the right direction, while the rest believe the opposite. However, not all subgroups of the population are equally divided. An important factor that differentiates the result is age: citizens over 65 who believe that we are heading in the right direction are more than twice as many as their peers who believe the opposite. Among those aged 17-39, however, the percentages are exactly the opposite. Younger people are generally more pessimistic about almost all aspects of the pandemic, which is confirmed by other surveys on other issues and warrants further investigation. It is also worth mentioning that half of vaccinated citizens believe we are heading in the right direction, while 7 out of 10 unvaccinated citizens believe we are heading in the wrong direction.
According to the survey, the dominant feelings among Greeks remain uncertainty (40%) and insecurity (31%), followed by shame (7%) and self-confidence (5%). In general, as previous surveys have shown, the majority of Greeks view the phenomenon as significant—from the very beginning of the crisis, their responses indicate that they take the threat seriously. A steady 3 in 4 believe that Covid-19 is a “serious threat” to their health, while only 1 in 5 think it is a “common simple illness.” 13.51% of those vaccinated believe it is “a simple illness” – but the corresponding percentage among those who are not vaccinated is 51.21%. According to the survey, the realism of their attitude has also come from the disappointment of their expectations in the early stages of the pandemic for a quick return to normality. It should be noted that at the beginning of the crisis, in April 2020, the majority of Greeks believed that we would have returned to a “normal daily life” by September 2020. Now, half of Greeks (47%) believe that we will return to “normal daily life” after 2022.
65% of Greeks consider it “very” or “quite likely” that new mutations will lead to a new wave of the pandemic in the future. At present, about 2 in 3 Greeks consider it “not very likely” or “not at all likely” that we will go into lockdown again (however, almost half of unvaccinated citizens believe, on the contrary, that we will). At the same time, however, 2 out of 3 Greeks believe that “the worst is over,” and only 1 in 4 believe that “harder days are ahead.” The results for this question are more or less similar regardless of age and almost identical for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
The survey also included a series of questions about the mental and physical health of Greeks during this period, comparing it with corresponding data from the pre-pandemic period. Among other things, today 1 in 4 Greeks say they have experienced anxiety disorders (panic attacks, anxiety) in the last 12 months and 1 in 10 say they have had depression. One in five say they have had sleep disorders and one in five say they have felt melancholy, depressed, or hopeless—a rate almost double that found in a similar ELSTAT survey from 2019. The percentage of people aged 17-24 who say they have felt melancholy, depressed, or hopeless in the last year reaches 44%.
