Will Malaysians Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19?

The government started the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme in February. As of 27 April 2021, about 1.4 million jabs have been administered to the first target group (frontliners) as well as part of the second target group (elderly people aged 60 and above, those at high risk of chronic diseases and essential services workers etc.). However, the total registrations is only at 38.5% of the national population.

This survey was administered to Vase.ai’s online panel using an active quota sampling-method, where only people contacted are allowed to participate. Respondents aged 18 years old and above were quota sampled according to census statistics by Race, Gender, Age and Region of residence. The purpose of the survey was to find out Malaysians’ intention to register for the Covid-19 vaccinations as well as their reasons behind it.

In this research, 1150 Malaysians were surveyed, asking if they have registered to receive Covid-19 vaccines. The core reason Malaysians registered for Covid-19 vaccinations is to protect themselves and their family from contracting Covid-19, as well as to reach herd immunity (84%). Some other reasons include being asked to (e.g. encouraged by the government, workplace requirements) (10%) and to be able to travel to other places (4%).

Among those who have not registered, almost 30% do not plan to register for the vaccine at all whereas the rest take the wait and see approach due to various reasons. The main reasons Malaysians have not registered for vaccination are:

1. They are not confident in the efficacy of the vaccines (36%)
2. They are afraid of the side effects (23%)

Some other reasons include:

1. They are busy with work or their studies, and forgot to register
2. They are pregnant, breastfeeding their babies or have certain health conditions.
3. They think it’s not necessary as they are not leaving their homes