Most of parents retain their right to solve if their children need vaccinations or not. An initiative to punish those parents who refuse a vaccination was not broadly supported.
MOSCOW, October 24, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey devoted to child vaccination.
Many parents retain their right to refuse mandatory vaccines for children from the list of vaccines approved by the Ministry of Healthcare (64% of respondents who have minor children). They say that this is their parental right and their responsibility over the child health. Thirty percent of respondents oppose this stance pointing to the lack of knowledge among such parents to decide if it is good or not (which may lead to child disease, in case of mistake).
More than half (59%) oppose the initiative to introduce punishment against those who refuse mandatory vaccination for children. Thirty-three percent of parents, grandmothers and grandfathers support the idea as they worry about their children health. Among those who think that parents do not have the right to refuse, 54% support punishment.
The VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide survey was conducted on September 20-22, 2017. The survey involved 1,800 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
There is a list of mandatory childhood vaccines approved by the Russian Ministry of Healthcare (measles, hepatitis B, etc.). In your opinion, do parents have their right to refuse a vaccination for children? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of answers of those who have minor children and grandchildren) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St. Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Yes, they do | 64 | 67 | 53 | 68 | 65 | 67 | 62 |
No, they don’t | 30 | 28 | 37 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 33 |
Don’t know | 6 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Why do you think that parents have their right to refuse a vaccination for their children? Up to 3 answers (open-ended question, not more than three answers, % of answers of those who think that parents can refuse a vaccination) | |
| Total respondents |
This is their legal right | 31 |
Children health is the responsibility of their parents and not anyone else | 19 |
There are contraindications, allergic reactions or intolerance | 18 |
They are afraid of complications, side effects | 13 |
Parents know better their children | 9 |
On religious grounds et cet. | 3 |
They are afraid of medical errors | 2 |
They are afraid of poor-quality vaccines | 2 |
If the child is healthy he/she does not need vaccination | 2 |
Lack of knowledge of the reasons of vaccination, failure to understand the consequences of their refusals | 1 |
They worry about their child’s life | 1 |
Other | 3 |
Don’t know | 15 |
Why do you think that parents do NOT have their right to refuse a vaccination for their children? Up to 3 answers (open-ended question, not more than three answers, % of answers of those who think that parents CANNOT refuse a vaccination) | |
| Total respondents |
Child’s health depends on that; parents can be wrong | 37 |
Child can get ill | 20 |
Potentially a child can transfer a disease if he/she gets ill | 18 |
This is a necessity; this was the decision of the Ministry of Healthcare | 13 |
Unvaccinated children get severely ill | 5 |
They will not be enrolled in school or kindergarten | 2 |
Earlier children were vaccinated too and no one did not see it as a problem | 2 |
Other | 3 |
Don’t know | 12 |
An initiative to introduce penalties for those parents who refuse mandatory vaccinations (such as measles or hepatitis B) for their children has been discussed. How do you perceive this initiative? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of answers of those who have minor children) | |||
| Total respondents | Those who think that parents have their right to refuse a vaccination | Those who think that parents DO NOT have their right to refuse a vaccination |
Completely approve | 14 | 9 | 24 |
Rather approve | 19 | 15 | 30 |
Rather disapprove | 31 | 34 | 24 |
Completely disapprove | 28 | 35 | 15 |
Don’t know | 8 | 7 | 7 |
What is the reason why you approve of penalties for parents who refuse a vaccination? Up to 3 answers (open-ended question, not more than three answers, % of answers of those who approve of penalties for parents) | |
| Total respondents |
Unvaccinated children can get ill and even die | 26 |
This is an irresponsible attitude towards child health | 26 |
Unvaccinated children can transfer disease | 22 |
The government spends a lot of money on treatment and prevention of epidemics | 2 |
Don’t know | 30 |
What is the reason why you disapprove of penalties for parents who refuse a vaccination? Up to 3 answers (open-ended question, not more than 3 answers, % of answers of those who DO NOT approve of penalties for parents) | |
| Total respondents |
This is a personal choice for parents; what to punish them for? | 47 |
No one is responsible for negative health impacts of vaccination | 9 |
Children might have contraindication to vaccination | 8 |
Parents know better what their children need | 6 |
This is wrong, this is too severe | 6 |
More efforts to raise awareness should be made; not to punish them | 4 |
Penalties for refusals are illegal until a law making vaccination mandatory is adopted. | 3 |
If the child gets ill, parents should be punished | 3 |
Refusal may have religious grounds | 1 |
Everything will be resolved through bribes | 1 |
Other | 2 |
Don’t know | 18 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!