Survey: More than half of Malaysians willing to get more Covid-19 vaccine jabs if ‘needed’

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Fifty-six per cent of Malaysians are willing to continue getting vaccinated against Covid-19 if it is “needed”, while the other 44 per cent are unlikely to do so or are neutral on the matter, according to a recent survey.

The survey, jointly conducted by market research company Ipsos, Monash University Malaysia, Sunway University, and University Sains Malaysia, further broke down the numbers to 32 per cent who said they were neutral and 12 per cent who said they were unlikely to do so.

Those aged above 60 were the least likely to get more Covid-19 jabs, with 50 per cent of them saying they were unlikely to do so.

Those aged 18 to 30 were the most likely to continue getting vaccinations, with 58 per cent in agreement.

Furthermore, the survey gauged respondents’ perception of how useful it is to get vaccinated.

“Although a majority of Malaysians believe vaccines protect their health and improve their general wellbeing, more than anything, getting vaccinated is seen as an enabler for people to go about their daily activities,” the researchers observed.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents agreed with the statement: “getting vaccinated against Covid-19 improves my wellbeing”.  Meanwhile, 24 per cent were unsure, and nine per cent disagreed.

Seventy-six per cent agreed that the Covid-19 vaccine protects their health, with 17 per cent being unsure, and eight per cent in disagreement.

Eighty per cent thought that getting vaccinated against Covid-19 helps them go about their daily activities. Another 15 per cent were unsure while five per cent disagreed.

The study also found that those who believed that getting vaccinated resulted in health and wellbeing benefits were more strongly motivated for continued vaccination.

For example, 71 per cent of those who agreed that getting vaccinated resulted in better wellbeing also said they would continue getting the vaccination.

“To nudge the population into continual vaccination, short term strategies could focus on making a multiple-boosted individual’s daily life more convenient, and giving them access to benefits that the unvaccinated/unboosted don’t have, such as the ability to dine-in or travel.

“The enjoyed benefits can subsequently feed into the longer-term strategies of communicating and educating the public on how access to these benefits through continual vaccination may lift their overall physical and mental wellbeing,” said researchers.

These were the results of the survey which studied 1,914 respondents aged 18 years and over, from January 17 to January 27 this year.

Ipsos is one of the largest market research companies in the world, with operations in 90 markets and a staff of over 18,000 people.