Just under a third of people are able to correctly identify who is currently able to get a COVID booster vaccine in the UK, indicating a “disappointment in terms of communication” from the government and healthcare providers.
A third of people incorrectly believe they are able to pay for a jab if they want one.
People at greatest risk of serious illness will be able to receive a booster vaccine for free on the NHS this autumn, including care home residents, over-65s, frontline health and social care workers and those in a clinical risk group. It will not be available to anyone else.
When polled by Ipsos, only 31% of people were aware of this, while 29% of people knew which groups were eligible to get it from the NHS but thought it was also available privately.
The government have not blocked private providers from delivering the vaccine, but it is not currently available from any in the UK.
A fifth of people thought that everyone was eligible for a free vaccine and further fifth said that they did not know at all.
Professor Francois Balloux, Chair in Computational Biology Systems Biology Genetics, Evolution & Environment at University College London said: “Ideally every adult should know who is eligible or not and people being unaware is a disappointment in terms of communication.”
What’s the latest on COVID?
While figures for Scotland and Wales are currently unavailable, nearly 2.5 million people in England have received the autumn COVID booster so far.
“Fundamentally and obviously, we’re in a much better situation than we were last year but it’s not ideal we have COVID circulation,” said Professor Balloux.
COVID hospital admissions have been rising across Great Britain but they have still been well below the peaks seen earlier this year and in other years of the pandemic.
Sky News has been reporting on the COVID inquiry, including WhatsApp messages between Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and Dominic Cummings that that reveal ‘infighting’ at the start of pandemic.
Young people are taking more precautions
People across various age groups had similar awareness about the current situation for boosters.
Nearly 30% of younger people (16-24) and 35% of older age groups (55-75) knew the correct policy for autumn boosters.
Young people, however, appear to be more concerned about COVID and are still taking precautions – albeit less than in 2022.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of younger people felt it was likely they would catch COVID by the end of this year but only 15% of older age groups felt they would catch it.
Overall, a significant number of people say they have still been taking precautions against COVID.
Cameron Garrett, research manager at Ipsos, said it is important to note that “we will have some overclaim on surveys like this where we are prompting them to think about COVID. There will also be some who read it and say they are avoiding it when actually they don’t do these things in the first place”.
Seven in 10 people reported to be washing their hands more regularly and more than a third reported not going to pubs and restaurants.
More than two fifths of people said they were taking lateral flow tests, despite them no longer being available for free from the NHS since 1 April 2022.
Half of young people said they are wearing face masks, while 30% of people aged 55 to 75 said they did so.
Two fifths of young people even said they are not going to pubs and restaurants specifically to avoid them or their family catching COVID.
Stephen Reicher, a professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews, who advised the Scottish government on behavioural science during the pandemic, said: “Through the pandemic there was a lot of blame attached to young people, young people were blamed for partying. The implication was that young people were irresponsible.
“I think young people behaved quite remarkably. And I think we did young people a disservice. And the pandemic, even if it didn’t kill them, hit them very hard. Hit them hard, socially. Hit them all, educationally. It hit them hard, economically.
“So actually, for me, this is a reminder of something I think we’ve got very wrong about the pandemic, which is that we ought to be celebrating, rather than castigating the approach of young people. It was remarkable in the pandemic, I think it remains impressive.”
People would likely change their habits if they caught COVID
Nearly two thirds of people said they were unlikely to go to the shops and 71% were less likely to visit elderly relatives if they got the disease.
While people are taking significant precautions and would change their habits if infected, nearly three fifths of people (58%) were not concerned about the risk of COVID to themselves and 62% felt the NHS was equipped to deal with it.
However, one in three people still lacked confidence in the health service’s capabilities.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at UKHSA, said: “The vast majority of those eligible for the COVID-19 autumn booster are contacted directly by the NHS and invited to come forward, and latest data shows more than 2.3 million people have taken up the offer to date.
“It’s good to see this poll suggests at least two thirds of the general public understands the booster is offered to those at highest risk, including over-65s and those in clinical risk groups.
“UKHSA also undertakes an extensive promotional communications campaign, including press activity, social media content, and information leaflets and posters made available to healthcare providers across the country, to help promote this wider awareness and encourage those eligible to come forward.”
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
