A POLL has revealed which famous Scots the public would like to see involved in a campaign to encourage Covid-19 vaccination take-up.
NHS England is reportedly drawing up a plan to enlist “sensible” celebrities and influencers to help boost take-up amid fears of vaccine scepticism
During the 1950s the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley was famously photographed getting his polio vaccination before appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show – the resulting campaign was successful in getting more young people to receive the jag.
Experts have theorised that a similar idea could be used now Covid-19 vaccines are being approved by medical regulators in record time.
A poll, carried out by Diffley Partnership and ScotPulse, asked 1144 Scots: “Which, if any, of the well known Scots listed below do you think could be used to encourage as many people as possible to take [the vaccine]?”
- Andy Murray (25%)
- Billy Connolly (24%)
- David Tennant (24%)
- Lorraine Kelly (20%)
- Jason Leitch (20%)
- Kevin Bridges (17%)
Alex Ferguson, Janey Godley, Ewan McGregor, Chris Hoy, Elaine C Smith, Susan Calman, James McAvoy, Brian Cox (below), Gerald Butler, James Cosmo, Judy Murray, Richard Madden, Edith Bowman and Kelly Macdonald also received votes.
The poll asked more generally about coronavirus vaccination too, finding the vast majority of Scots will take it when they are offered it. More than three-quarters said they would definitely receive it while just 6% said they won’t.
Mark Diffley wrote: “A more detailed look at the data highlights few significant differences in attitudes among population sub-groups.
“In terms of opposition to taking the vaccine, women are slightly more likely than men to be opposed (7% versus 4% of men), while those at either end of the age scale are more supportive of taking the vaccine than those in the middle age groups; so, just 4% of those aged under 35 and 3% of those aged 65+ say they probably or definitely won’t take the vaccine, while this rises to as high as 9% among those aged 45-54. In truth however, these differences are not hugely significant.”
Speaking at FMQs yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed more than 5000 people in Scotland have now been vaccinated for Covid-19 as the roll-out gets going.
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