Chronic patients: Survey indicates willingness to get vaccinated differs significantly by country

Hamburg, 12.05.2021: Data science group EvidentIQ, with its subsidiary company Carenity, has published a survey with 3,353 participants on the situation of chronic patients during the pandemic. The target group included adults from France, the UK, Germany, Italy and the US. Among other findings regarding the number of canceled medical visits and procedures, or the rise of telehealth services, the difference in preparedness for vaccination per country stood out. 

The motivation to get vaccinated does not come as a surprise. 48 percent state they are at risk, 46 percent want to protect others and 41 percent simply want to protect themselves from the virus. Only 18 percent indicate it would be easier to travel when vaccinated. The most frequent chronic conditions among the respondents are Type 2 diabetes (24%), asthma (19%), multiple sclerosis (15%) and COPD (14%). Given the severity of these illnesses, it is surprising that a mere 67 percent in France and 47 percent in Germany do not intend to get vaccinated.

Michael Chekroun, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of the EvidentIQ group and Founder of Carenity explains these results:

“When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccines, nearly half of our respondents are afraid of side effects. Another 45 percent name the lack of information as reason for their reluctance to be vaccinated. To some extent this is understandable.”

Chekroun refers to the comparably short development and trial phases of the new vaccines. For these highly regulated trial processes imposed by public entities like EMA and FDA – EvidentIQ provides software infrastructure, scientific services and even access to patients to secure and automate testing procedures.

“Many people are not aware that for extraordinary situations like these there have always been Accelerated Approval Programs to shorten time-to-market for a new treatment. This is obviously where chronic patients are understandably nervous, fearing side effects and requiring more information. Our survey shows that only 4 percent of all respondents generally oppose vaccination.”

Also, the survey shows that 46 percent report that medical visits or procedures have been canceled or postponed in the first wave of COVID-19, while 75 percent report the same for wave 2.

This may explain why roughly 67 percent of patients in the US are open to the use of telehealth consultations, in Europe only 47 percent.

Read the the full interview with Michael Chekroun on the outcome of this survey and get a free copy of the complete results.