Europeans most against idea of immunization; rise in anti-vaxxers in continent: Study

European countries are the least trusting when it comes to vaccines with large populations belonging to the anti-vaxxers community, a recent study revealed. According to a research report released by Lancet, European countries ranked the lowest in terms of the trust in vaccines with just one in five people in countries like Lithuania and Albania believing that they were safe.

The study which was conducted by researchers from the UK, US and Belgium surveyed nearly 300,000 people across 149 countries, to identity the 'vaccine hesitancy hotspots' in the world between 2018-19. 

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Most were identified in Europe with countries like Poland witnessing a drop in confidence in vaccine safety. It's important to mention that many of these European countries are witnessing a growth of highly organised local 'anti-vaccine movement' which could be a major reason for their mistrust, researchers believe. 

However, some countries in Europe recorded a rise in the confidence over vaccine safety. These included the UK, Finland, France, Italy, and Ireland. France saw an 8% rise in vaccine confidence from 22 per cent in 2018, to 30 per cent in 2019.

Conducted by teams from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, the University of Washington, and Antwerp University in Belgium, the report also recorded countries with the highest trust in vaccines with Uganda, Bangladesh, Liberia, Burundi and Namibia taking top 5 spots. India showed an 82% trust in vaccines standing at the sixth spot. 

The top countries with low vaccine trust include a large number of countries from Asia as well. The top 5 spots were taken by Japan, Lithuania, Albania, Hong Kong and Russia. China and Taiwan also made the list at the sixth and seventh spot.

The findings, conducted between 2018 to 2019, raise serious questions on people's willingness and acceptance to a Covid-19 vaccination when it is released. 

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