Simple surveys on whether people intend to vaccinate were insufficient for finding out under what circumstances people will trust in vaccination. It is easy to speculate that refusal to vaccinate stems from some conviction or belief in conspiracy theories. Instead, the survey showed us that there many factors can affect a person's decision, first of all, scientific facts and expert commentaries. It is true not just about vaccination in general but about new information about COVID-vaccines specifically. For citizens, it is not enough to know only information about the country of origin (besides, this information is promptly politicized). They want to know whether there are side effects of the vaccines and age limits, whether vaccines are delivered reliably and safely. Since everything is happening here and now, vaccines were developed in record time, it is, in a point of fact, a responsibility of the media to spread this information: talk to experts, ask medics and people responsible for vaccine transportation, look for information that people want to know. I hope that the survey will help in presenting the information about vaccination and will be backed up by science and facts.
Nataliya Gumenyuk, the founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab