Possibilities to Overcome Negative Attitudes Towards Immunization Against Covid-19

Surveys of public sentiments show that Bulgarians are the most skeptical about immunizations against Coronavirus, which is why our country is among the last places in the EU in terms of vaccination coverage. The aim of this study is to identify the causes of negative attitudes and to formulate recommendations for effective solutions that raise the reliable public awareness and minimize skepticism. Both documentary and sociological methods were used in the study. 459 people were interviewed and 43 in-depth interviews were conducted within the period of November- December 2021. Conclusions and recommendations: The absence, for a long time, of a national system-structured information campaign and the later misconducted one, combined with a wave of infodemia, are the main reasons for the negative sentiments about the vaccination against Covid-19.
The creation of permanent information centers in settlements and the opportunity for personal contact of citizens with locally proven medical authorities will help to overcome the negative attitudes.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].

This work did not receive any external funding.