KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — There is a need to raise more awareness on the benefits of receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, especially among the youth, a survey jointly conducted by Ipsos Malaysia, Monash University, Sunway University and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said.

The survey — titled “Perception Towards Covid-19 Vaccine” — showed that 32 per cent of those polled between 18 and 30 were either unsure or had no intention to get vaccinated.

The survey said that older people who are more at risk were more likely to experience strong encouragement to get vaccinated from their circle of family and friends, while youths were less likely to get cues from their peer groups who had lower intentions to get vaccinated.

“A particular focus should be the youth. Being less at risk for the most severe impacts of infection, the benefits are less obvious,” it said.

“Encouraging youth to accept the vaccine could have a self-reinforcing effect as social influence (eg, family, friends and peers) plays a key part in boosting vaccination intention.”

The survey showed that 60 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 30 indicated that people who are most important to them think they should be vaccinated, as compared to 84 per cent recorded among those above 60.

The figure is also higher among women, with 77 per cent of them saying that they have received encouragement to get vaccinated, compared to men at 71 per cent.

In terms of education groups, those with tertiary education show the highest social influence value, at 79 per cent, as compared to those with diplomas and secondary or lower educations, at 69 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

The survey also shared that there is a need to improve awareness campaigns to inform Malaysians on the individual benefits of receiving the Covid-19 vaccination to further boost vaccination intention.

“Awareness of the benefits vaccines bring for the community at large is high, but more work needs to be done to convince people across all age groups of the individual benefits of getting vaccinated and the subsequent spillover benefits into the community,” said the survey.

The survey shows there is a much higher belief in community benefits of taking the Covid-19 vaccine as compared to the individual benefits.

Among those aged between 18 and 30, 73 per cent believe in the benefits the Covid-19 vaccine has for the surrounding community, while only 64 per cent believe in its individual benefits.

The group with the least proportion of those who believed in community and individual benefits were those aged between 41 and 50, at 70 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, those above 60 showed the highest belief in the benefits of taking the Covid-19 vaccine, both to the community and to the individual, at 86 per cent and 64 per cent each.