Brits want to share vaccine – but won’t use it on their children

By Ian Silvera, Account Director

Welcome to the lexicon, ‘vaccine nationalism’. You join phrases such as ‘more, now than ever’ and the ‘new normal’ as the Corona virus ushers in a new language around pandemics and how we deal with crises. 

The latest riff has been popularised by the World Health Organisation, which has urged countries to share their Covid-19 fighting knowledge and avoid the hoarding of shots. The game theory says it would be best to share, although international relations is never as straightforward as that. Britons, however, are onboard with such a move. 

A new Savanta ComRes survey of more than 2,000 people in mid-August found that a vast majority (82%) of respondents rejected so-called ‘vaccine nationalism’, with just over three quarters (75%) saying that Covid-19 vaccines should be available to everyone. 

Even if we find ourselves in such a position, though, it doesn’t mean the public will get onboard with vaccine regimes. A poll from Childcare.co.uk claims 45% of UK parents would not give the vaccine to their children. The survey is of more than 5,000 respondents. 

However, the methodology and fieldwork behind the eye-catching findings are unclear, so treat it with whatever salt you are putting in your homemade bread this week. As for Down Under, where you only need one teaspoon of salt for your traditional Damper bread, anxiety about the virus continues to ease. 

Our colleagues at Newgate Australia found that unprompted concern about coronavirus has fallen five points since last week, with 60% of survey participants saying it is the top issue facing Australia. 

When prompted, 80% were “extremely” or “quite concerned” compared to 83% last week and 86% two weeks ago. And just 50% now say the virus spread will get worse in a month, down some 23 points from 73% two weeks ago. 

The poll, of more than 1,200 people between Monday 17 August and Wednesday 19 August, also found that the federal government’s ratings were down, with fewer Australians rating Scott Morrison’s overall performance as “good” or “excellent” (down five points to 55%). 

That’s not all bad if you consider the latest polling coming out of the US. Just 38% of registered voters approve of Donald Trump’s handling of the virus (down from 41% in June), while almost seven in ten respondents to the CNN/SSRS phone survey make them feel embarrassed. 

The economy, however, could be the Commander in Chief’s saviour at the November general election. More than half of the respondents (52%) approved of this aspect of his Presidency. More, now than ever, don’t start idly predicting the results of political races.