The Romanian Consumers’ Perception Regarding the Immunization against the Coronavirus

Abstract

Considering the different perceptions of the population on the efficiency and side-effects of the Corona vaccine the present study has in attention the perception of the Romanian population on the COVID-19 vaccines and the most important determinants of the consumer’s choice on vaccination. The study consists of analyzing data collected through a survey applied in the West Region of Romania. The collected responses are resumed to a set of constructs, obtained by running an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, part of them being used as dummy variables. Estimating a generalized linear ordinal regression model, the purpose of our study is to identify the drivers which influence the respondents’ perception regarding the efficiency and the side effects related to the COVID-19 vaccine. Our results confirm a significant influence of the respondents’ profile on their perception. Inter-personal relations and media channels seem to influence only the respondents’ perception of the efficiency of the COVID-19 vaccine. Our study emphasizes as well how important it is for people to get a better understanding of the COVID-19 virus, which helps to form their own opinion regarding the vaccine. On the other side, the results show how essential it is for the authorities to change their vision on pandemic information transparency. Otherwise, scenarios like mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 seem to make people even more reluctant. This research paper shows that Romanians are not sufficiently interested in vaccination, first of all because there is a lack of trust even among specialists, which determines a lack of trust among the population in the efficacy of the recommended immunization. Romanian people seem to be more interested in the side-effects of vaccination against COVID-19, rather than how efficient the vaccine is.