Vaccine attitudes in the Faroes

Residents in the capital region have the most positive attitude towards the Covid vaccine, according to a new survey headed by researcher Heini í Skorini.

Just over 81 percent of all respondents in the survey said they had received the first shot, while 75.5 percent reported having received the second.

Divided into regions, this figure is (first/second shot %)

Suðurstreymoy: 81%/76%

Vágar: 81%/72%

Sandoy: 80%/73%

Suðuroy: 79%/74%

Norðstreymoy: 78%/73%

Eysturoy: 76%/70%

Norðoyggjar: 74%/68%

Improved accessibility

These figures are not surprising, says Tummas í Garði, COO of the Hospital Service and a member of the vaccination committee.

“We have known for some time that accessibility in remote areas has been an issue,” he says.

“We have had success with pop-up vaccination sites in Vágar and Runavík, and we are looking at opening similar sites elsewhere as well as visiting more places with our mobile vaccination unit.”

He adds that the health authorities will also be putting more effort into informing the public about the vaccine.

Political views

The new survey indicates that those leaning to the political right are less likely to get vaccinated.

“This was not an unexpected correlation,” says lead researcher Heini í Skorini. “The right-wing hesitancy may be due to a higher degree of distrust in the state authorities than for left-wing people.”

Age groups

According to the survey, the 30-44 age group is the most reluctant to getting the vaccine.

“This is a slightly surprising finding to me as I was expecting the 18-30 age group to top this list,” says the researcher.

Media habits

The survey also suggests a correlation between regular use of Youtube as a source of Covid-related information and a higher degree of vaccine hesitancy.

However, Heini í Skorini is keen to point out that generalisations may be inaccurate because the sample size of vaccine-hesitant respondents in the survey is relatively low, at about 13 percent.

In related news, no new Covid cases were registered yesterday. The daily numbers of positive tests over the past week have been as follows: 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2 and 0.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, visit corona.fo.

Hear the Faroese version of this article here. The sample size of the survey was not mentioned in the clip.

Translated by prosa.fo.

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