UAE & KSA Residents Consider Pfizer-Biotech The Safest Covid-19 Vaccine

YouGov’s latest study reveals that among the available Covid-19 vaccines in UAE & KSA, Pfizer-Biotech is considered the safest by residents.

Currently, three-quarters of respondents in both the countries think Pfizer vaccine is safe than unsafe (74% vs 10%). Less than one in five (17%) said they are unsure about its safety. Comparatively, UAE residents are more likely than KSA residents to trust Pfizer for its safety (76% vs 71%).

While the government is procuring more Covid-19 vaccines, Pfizer remains one of the most widely approved vaccine for use in most of the GCC countries. Across the region, the level of trust in Pfizer’s safety is high; however, there are notable differences within age groups. Adults between 25-34 years are more likely to trust the vaccine; but trust is lower among the youngest age group (18-24 years). This is more common among young adults in KSA, where only 66% say they consider Pfizer safe.

Residents who are married with children are more likely to trust the vaccine as compared to the single population (76% vs 71%). The difference is more prominent among KSA residents, where there is a 9-percentage point difference between the two cohorts (75% vs 66%).

Similarly, working residents in the two countries are more likely than the non-working public to trust the Pfizer vaccine (78% vs 65%).

After Pfizer, other vaccines UAE & KSA residents consider safe are Oxford’s AstraZeneca (62%), Sinopharm (53%) and Moderna (50%). Sputnik and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are perceived to be comparatively less safe.

At a country level, both KSA (60%) and UAE (63%) residents show similar trust levels in AstraZeneca’s safety, however, there are differences in the perceived safety of other vaccines. Three quarters of respondents in the UAE (74%) consider Sinopharm vaccine safe while in KSA less than half of this number think so (32%).

Although vaccines such as Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have been approved for use in both the countries, they are thought to be more safe by the residents of UAE than KSA. 

Data collected online among 2030 respondents in the UAE & KSA by YouGov’s Omnibus between June 9^th and June 16^th 2021 using YouGov’s panel of over 11 million people worldwide