Half of Russians (48%) are afraid of contracting coronavirus, the other half (50%) are not afraid. Meanwhile the fear of contracting the virus has increased – from 43% to 48%
Are you afraid of contracting coronavirus? (as %% of respondents)
| Feb.20 | Mar.20 | Apr.20 | Jul.20 | Oct.20 | Dec.20 | Feb.21 | Apr.21 | May 21 | Jun.21 | Jul.21 | Aug. 21 | Oct.21 | |
| Yes | 30 | 44 | 57 | 49 | 64 | 57 | 43 | 42 | 42 | 41 | 46 | 43 | 48 |
| No | 68 | 54 | 41 | 49 | 34 | 41 | 56 | 56 | 55 | 57 | 53 | 55 | 50 |
| Can’t say | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
28% have had the mild form of coronavirus, 6% – the severe form. 39% personally knew people that were seriously ill with coronavirus, 27% – people who died of COVID.
The share of those who are ready to get vaccinated against coronavirus has increased from 15% in August 2021 to 19% in October. The number of those who are not ready to get vaccinated is decreasing: 52% in August, 45% in October. A third of respondents (33%) stated they already were vaccinated.
A free voluntary vaccination against COVID with Russian vaccines is under way. Are you ready to get vaccinated personally? (as %% of respondents)
| Aug.20 | Oct.20 | Dec.20 | Feb.21 | Apr.21 | Jun.21 | Jul.21 | Aug. 21 | Oct.21 | |
| Yes | 38 | 36 | 38 | 30 | 26 | 25 | 19 | 15 | 19 |
| No | 54 | 59 | 58 | 62 | 62 | 54 | 55 | 52 | 45 |
| I’m against any vaccination | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| I’m vaccinated already | 4 | 10 | 19 | 24 | 32 | 33 |
55% of Russians are sure that the main problems caused by the COVID epidemic are still ahead. 29% believe that we are witnessing them now, 7% think that they are already behind us.
The most popular measure to counteract the epidemic has become mandatory vaccination of certain groups (doctors, educators, transport and retail workers and others): 53% support this measure at the state level, 8% – in certain regions. A total lockdown is the least popular measure: 25% support it at the state level, 18% – in some regions, 54% are against it.
61% of Russians agree that coronavirus is a new form of biological weapon (35% – completely agree, 26% – rather agree). 30% do not consider coronavirus a form of biological weapon.
Respondents aged 55 and older (68%) are most convinced of the artificial origin of the coronavirus, respondents aged 18-24 are the least convinced – 43%.
The last time the question about the origin of the virus was asked in February 2021 and was posed in a slightly different way. However, back then the share of Russians who were in favour of the biological weapon option was about the same.
Methodology
This survey was conducted October 21 – 27 2021, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample consisted of 1636 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents.