• Robert Marcec, Matea Majta, and Robert Likic.
• University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
• Postgrad Med J. 2021 Mar 1; 97 (1145): 143149143-149.

IntroductionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that appeared in Wuhan, China in January 2020 and caused a global pandemic drastically changing everyday life. Currently, there are vaccine candidates in clinical trials and development, so it is only a matter of time before one is authorised for human use.Materials And MethodsWe collected public opinion survey results about attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination conducted in 2020 in 26 European countries.ResultsThe pooled surveys were conducted on a total of 24 970 participants; on average only 58% (n=14 365/24 970) of responders across Europe were willing to get a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine once it becomes available, 16% (n=3998/24 970) were neutral, and 26% (n=6607/24 970) were not planning to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2. Such a low vaccination response could make it exceedingly difficult to reach the herd immunity threshold for SARS-CoV-2 through vaccination.ConclusionIt is very important to start conducting educational public health activities on the topic of vaccination as soon as possible, before a vaccine becomes available, in order to improve attitudes towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Only by educating the general public about the benefits, safety and efficacy of vaccines can we hope to avoid the unnecessary prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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