Society

11% of Japanese shy away from COVID-19 vaccines, poll shows

Jul 05 (Japan Times) - Some 11% of people in Japan do not want to receive vaccinations against the coronavirus despite progress on COVID-19 inoculation programs, a nationwide survey showed Monday.

About 74% of such people expressed concerns over adverse effects of vaccine shots, according to the survey conducted by a group of institutions including the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry and Fukushima Medical University.

Those unwilling to receive COVID-19 vaccinations included many young women, according to the survey.

The online survey was conducted in February, covering 26,000 people aged between 15 and 79 across the country. The survey results reflected answers from some 23,000 of them.

The proportion of respondents unwilling to receive COVID-19 vaccinations stood at 11.3%, while those hoping to get vaccinated accounted for 35.9%.

Another 52.8% said they want to be inoculated after seeing further developments on the vaccination rollout.

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