Results from our latest Omnibus study finds 70.8% (nearly 4 in 5) Maltese nationals intend to take the COVID-19 vaccination. Of the 500 respondents surveyed, 38% responded “definitely” and 32.8% “rather likely”. Another 10.8% percent said “not likely” and 4.6% “definitely not”. The remaining 13.8% of respondents said they did not know.

Almost 1 out of 4 respondents were still undecided/hesitant about taking the vaccine, but male respondents were more likely (72.9%) to say they would take the vaccine than female respondents (68.9%). In fact, indecisiveness about whether to take the vaccine was higher amongst women than men. Women were also more likely to say they would “definitely” not take the vaccine. Of those 4.6% who stated they will “definitely” not take the vaccine, 60.9% were women and 39.1% were men.

The respondents who claimed were still undecided about taking the vaccine, expressed that this was mostly due to the potential side effects (45.2%), followed by their apprehension towards the fast development of the virus and uncertainty about testing (31.5%).

The age group most likely to take the vaccine was made up of those aged 65+ (78.7%), followed by 25 to 34 year olds (73.5%) and 16 to 24 year olds (70.8%). The age groups most sceptical about taking the vaccine were made up of respondents aged 50 to 64 years old (68%) and 35 to 49 years old (65%).

Vaccine willingness also correlated with education levels. The study found that respondents who never went to school or only received a primary level of education were 100% and 80% likely to take the vaccine, when compared to the 68.4% of people who received a secondary education, 67.1% who received a post-secondary education and 58.1% who possess a Diploma-level education.

Vaccine willingness was once again on the rise amongst respondents who received a tertiary or post-tertiary education. Of those respondents with a bachelor’s degree, 76.1% said they were likely to take the vaccine and of those with a post-graduate degree, 78.4% reported they were likely to get vaccinated.