THREE in four Irish people say they will happily receive the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, according to a new survey.
While 75% of those surveyed said they would accept one, nearly a fifth of respondents (18%) said they were unsure, while 7% insisted they would not be taking one.
The study was carried out by Ipsos MRBI for the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), who conducted over 1,000 telephone interviews between January 4 and January 14.
They surveyed adults aged 18 and over, and said participants were nationally representative for age, gender, geography and social class.
According to their results, the age group most likely to take a vaccine are the over-65s (86%), followed by people aged between 55 and 64 (80%).
Of the 7% who said they won't be taking a vaccine, the majority are in the 25 to 34-year-old bracket.
Despite the relatively high number of people unwilling to be inoculated, that number has almost halved since a similar survey was carried out in October last year.
At that time, 12% of Irish people said they wouldn't accept a Covid-19 jab if one became available.
IPHA chief executive Oliver O'Connor said the new survey "shows there is a strong public appetite for taking a Covid-19 vaccine".
"Immunisation on a sufficient scale is all that separates us from an indefinite series of lockdowns. It is vital that as many people as possible get vaccinated so that we can all return to normality or, at least, some version of it.
"We would ask people to bear with the health authorities as they roll out the vaccination programme nationwide. Our public health experts and officials, as well as frontline healthcare workers and the government, are working hard to inoculate the population on a phased basis.
"That will take time so we should try to be patient."
