Willingness to get vaccinated remains high
February 9th 2021
Nearly 60% of participants in the Great Corona Study let their hair grow in the past months
Women and older people in particular are rushing to the hairdresser’s as soon as it opens its doors again on 13 February. This is apparent from UAntwerp’s Great Corona Study. The questionnaire also shows that which specific vaccine people will receive plays an increasingly important role for people doubting vaccines.
Tuesday saw the 30th wave of the Great Corona Study. Once again, 20,200 people participated in the large-scale questionnaire, an initiative of UAntwerp, in cooperation with UHasselt, KU Leuven, ULB and supported by a financial boost from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). As always, the analysis of the massive amount of data yields some interesting findings. The scientists also share this information with policy makers.
Some interesting findings:
58% of people let their corona hairstyle grow in the past two months. Not surprisingly, more women (73%) than men (40%) chose this option. 42% of respondents did take action: most of them took care of their hair themselves or had it done by a household member; 2% called on a professional hairdresser. 40% of all participants have already booked a hairdresser’s appointment in the next few weeks or are trying to make an appointment as soon as possible, especially people over 35 and women.
For many students, the past week was a week with no classes. 37.9% relaxed as much as possible at and around their home. 11.5% went on holiday (in their own country), 7.7% worked. Remarkably, 32.3% of students say they stayed at home, but were hardly able to relax.
After a long period of deterioration, mental well-being in all age groups has started moving in the right direction again over the past two weeks. This positive evolution is most pronounced among students.
Children under 12 had to make a choice in their leisure activities: they can temporarily only practice one hobby. Indoor sports suffer the most from this compulsory choice: normally 44% of children play an indoor sport, only 17% now choose to do so. Dance/music/word activities (from 30 to 13%) and youth clubs (from 35 to 18%) also see far fewer children for now. For outdoor sports, the impact is less dramatic: from 29 to 18%.
Willingness to get vaccinated remains high among over 20,000 respondents: 84% say they will probably or definitely get vaccinated. In the latest questionnaire, half of respondents with doubts indicated that their doubts were related to the specific vaccine they would receive.
The most important reason for getting vaccinated is to avoid becoming ill (79%), but this is strongly age-dependent: much more important for old than young. Being able to play a role in society and facilitating relaxations (75%), protecting vulnerable people in one’s own environment (66%) and having more freedom (55%) are also important reasons for getting vaccinated.