Attitude To Covid-19 Vaccination In Russia: social, political and communication aspects

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a quantitative survey conducted by the method of questionnaires, which was devoted to the attitude to the situation associated with the spread of coronavirus infection, including the study of the transformation of the sociotechnical imaginary in relation to the vaccination procedure. The article analyzes the values and attitudes of respondents in relation to medical technologies, hopes for the prospects and ways of getting out of the epidemic and the role of new vaccines in this. The study revealed that the majority of respondents did not associate the solution to the coronavirus problem with vaccination or the invention of a drug, hoping for the development of herd immunity or that the pandemic will end per se. A significant number of respondents have a negative attitude towards vaccination, fearing the unsafe vaccine. The survey showed that gender differences in attitudes towards vaccination against coronavirus infection, apparently, are not significant, but the differences in two age groups – young people under 35 and older people (36 – 72 y.o.) turned out to be more significant: among young people, a slightly more positive attitude was recorded to science and to a vaccine than among the older group of respondents. The article raises the question of how this attitude to medical technology and vaccination is formed and what should be the role of government communications in this matter.