Seven out of ten Argentines are ready to go …

Despite the massive anti-vaccination campaign launched by the opposition and Cambiemos-aligned media, seven out of ten Argentines are ready to be vaccinated. There is a significant percentage who thinks that this is a step forward in the normalization of things – for example, in the return to face-to-face classes in schools – which sets the tone for all opinions: the vaccine marks hope for a better year. The sordid war between vaccines doesn’t seem to have affected much either: there is no marked preference for a particular vaccine and people are ready to be vaccinated with whatever is available. Opinions about the obligation are divided into equal percentages, for and against that it is compulsory, while a large majority hold that it is free. As with other questions, there is about a quarter of the critical population who say the government has done worse things than expected, but the majority, three in four, gives the green light to what has been done by the executive power.

The findings come from a survey conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Studies (CEOP), led by sociologist Roberto Bacman. In total, 1269 people were interviewed, respecting the proportions by age, sex, socio-economic level and place of residence. Interviews were conducted by telephone.

In addition to the usual presence of anti-vaccines in Argentina and in the world, there is a specific ferocity because Sputnik-V, of Russian origin, will first be applied in the country. In other words, a geopolitical and trade war ingredient has been added that is not minor: there is a part of the population – and of the political and media structure – that is referenced in the United States and in a lesser measure in Europe and which in no way admits that relations which may be strategic with China or Russia are deepened. All this causes the political and media sectors to give their speeches a dramatic tone of impending catastrophe.

“This survey shows that Argentinians are reluctant to believe in many things they hear, read or see Bacman Analysis. And, on the contrary, they resist with the hope that after the vaccination process, a step to eradicate this damn pandemic will begin. The vaccine for humans is important. And such importance is shown in some data that emerges from this survey. The first: the tendency to be vaccinated is very strong, since three out of four say so. Speculations, operations and campaigns of different types and tenor are ruined. Another myth that has been tried to install is that the Russian vaccine does not work. The results seem to reveal a very different reality: the Sputnik V vaccine obtains acceptance values ​​as significant (or even a few points higher) than that of AstraZeneca and that developed by Pfizer“.

There are questions that are more or less debated. The poll shows an overwhelming majority in favor of making the vaccine free, something that exists almost everywhere in the world, although it is indicated that in the United States it will be sold in pharmacies shortly. The CEOP study indicates that 75% of people are in favor of tipping. More astonishing is the parity of the percentages compared to the obligation: 41% say that it should be obligatory and 45% say that it must be voluntary. The concept that covid is a social problem and not an individual problem is present, while on the other side are those who believe it will be necessary to convince rather than to force. In most countries they have chosen not to oblige, at least so far.

Since the start of the pandemic, we appreciate what the government has done in the area of ​​health. A very clear majority believes that the quarantine of the first days was essential to regenerate the healthcare system and it was also agreed that the executive has maintained high levels of consensus with the opposition and with the governors at every step taken. As for the vaccine, there is also majority approval of what is being done. Bacman asserts that “we cannot ignore that six in ten Argentines understand that the government is doing things better or as planned. This is a more than encouraging value and in a way expresses the content of the opinions expressed in the survey: there is hope, things must go well in the coming year ”.