The Czech Republic is one of the countries in the region with the greatest readiness for vaccination against Coronavirus

In Central and Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic is one of the countries whose population most want to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Unlike the Slovaks, the Czechs do not endorse the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, and this comes after the results of a public opinion poll, the results of which were published Tuesday by the Slovak non-governmental organization Globsec.

Of the ten countries surveyed, most, up to 73 percent of the population, intend to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Austria. Slovakia came second, with 61 percent, and the Czech Republic, third, with 57 percent. On the other side of the scale are Bulgaria and Romania, where only about a third of the population supports vaccination. Residents of Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were also contacted in March, with at least 1,000 people surveyed in each country.

In addition, Globsec has investigated the possibility of vaccination, that is, a group of people who were already vaccinated at the time of the survey, as well as those who would like to be vaccinated. In this comparison, 72 percent of Visegrad countries can be vaccinated in Hungary, 70 percent in Slovakia, and 66 percent in the Czech Republic and Poland. According to Globsec, this is a significant increase over the past. In the Czech Republic, vaccinations against COVID-19 are more favorable to the elderly.

Residents of dozens of these countries prefer vaccines produced in Western Europe or the United States, such as those from Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech. The Russian Sputnik V vaccine, which has not been authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), will be chosen by only three percent of the Czech population. In Slovakia, on the other hand, up to 15 percent of the population will be vaccinated with Sputnik V. In March, Slovakia imported the first shipment of the aforementioned Russian vaccine, which has not yet begun to be vaccinated. The circumstances of the purchase of Sputnik V without the consent of part of the government coalition contributed to the deepening of the governmental crisis in Slovakia in March, which in particular led to the replacement of Prime Minister Igor Matovi. Edward Heger becomes the new Prime Minister, and Matovi is now Minister of Finance.