MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Vaccination against COVID-19 significantly reduces the level of anxiety among population. That is according to the results of a poll conducted by the research center under the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in April.
As part of the study, 1,500 people over 18 years old were interviewed in 30 regions of Russia. The sample included representatives of the main socio-demographic groups of the population.
"More than half of the respondents said they had fears of coronavirus infection. The highest level of anxiety is observed among the older generation of Russians, women with children, among citizens with low self-esteem of health. At the same time, the level of fear of contracting COVID-19 is almost halved after vaccination and detection of the presence of antibodies," the poll reveals.
The data show that the level of fear of contracting COVID-19 directly correlates with the fact of vaccination, the RANEPA notes.
"If respondents are just planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19, fears of contracting an infection amount to 72.5%, after the first dose of the vaccine — 66%, after the second dose — 56.5%, and once antibodies to COVID-19 are identified the decline in anxiety becomes even more obvious — 42.6%," the poll says.
In general, Russians are very much afraid of contracting COVID-19 — this was stated by 54% of respondents.
"Most often, the probability of facing this infection worries women with children — 59.8%, the lowest level of fear is among childless men — only 35.6%. The biggest differences are noted between different age groups of the surveyed: the fear grows alongside with the age, and after 40 years it starts growing rapidly," the poll says.
In the age group of 18-24 years 41.5% of respondents are afraid of contracting coronavirus, in the group of 30-39 years — 42.9%, in the group of 40-49 it is already 53.2% of respondents and among respondents over 60 years old their share is 66.1%.
"This is consistent with the conclusions of doctors saying that COVID-19 is especially dangerous for older age groups," according to the statement.
Significant differences in the level of anxiety are recorded among citizens, depending on the state of health. While only 35.2% of respondents who consider themselves healthy fear to get infected with coronavirus, among people with the so-called "low self-esteem of health" this indicator reaches 73.7%. Fears of contracting coronavirus, albeit to a relatively small extent — up to 39.6%, are recorded among respondents who have already had it.
According to the study, the statistics of morbidity has a direct impact on the sentiments of citizens — the higher it is the stronger the anxiety and people are more concerned about their health.
"One of the ways out of a stressful situation for citizens is the accelerating vaccination of the population against COVID-19: not only it protects against coronavirus, but, as the survey data show, helps people reduce the level of anxiety," according to the statement.
"Vaccination is the best protection strategy. This also applies to those categories of citizens who are more confident in their health than others, because they may have a false illusion of safety, which creates potential risks for others," Andrei Pokida, head of the research center and one of the authors of the study, notes.