Britons More Likely to Get Covid Vaccination, Polling Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Britons are warming to the idea of getting vaccinated against Covid-19, with seven in ten saying they’re prepared to take the shot, polling showed.

The proportion of Brits who “definitely would” or “likely would” get a Covid inoculation has increased by five points since September, according to the Kekst CNC polling released Friday. It also found Brits more receptive to vaccination than people in the five other countries surveyed: the U.S., Germany, France, Sweden and Japan.

The U.K. this week became the first country in the world to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE after approving its use last week and taking an initial delivery of 800,000 shots. A vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University is also being reviewed, and ministers have begun to talk about a return to normality with a rollback of coronavirus restrictions by the spring.

“In news that will reassure the government and business planning ahead, Britain has one of the most enthusiastic populations in the world when it comes to getting a coronavirus vaccine,” said James Johnson, a senior adviser at Kekst who served as former Prime Minister Theresa May’s pollster.

Those polled who said they definitely or likely would take the vaccine totaled 63% in Germany, 58% in the U.S., 53% in Sweden, 50% in Japan and just 45% in France.

The U.K. polling of 1,000 adults was carried out Nov. 26 to Dec. 1 -- ending the day before the U.K. approved the Pfizer vaccine for use. Britain has pre-ordered 40 million of the shots, as well as another 100 million Astra inoculations.

The margin of error for the U.K. poll was 3.3%. Other findings include:

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government each has a net approval rating of minus 24%, the lowest among the governments surveyed
• 44% of Britons said they’d seen anti-vaccine content on social media
• 62% are concerned about the fate of local businesses that are suffering because of lockdowns and other restrictions
• Britons want to see more taxation on businesses that have fared well during the pandemic, with 56% saying online retailers should be taxed more, and more people in favor of raising taxes for banks, technology companies and pharmaceutical companies than opposing it.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.