Vaccine confidence rising in Greece, report says

Greece comes second behind Slovenia on the list of European Union countries where citizens have a growing amount of confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccinations, a recent report by the European Commission has shown.

According to the report titled “State of Vaccine Confidence in the EU 2018,” 92.8 percent of Greeks believe it is important for children to have vaccinations, 84.5 percent believe them to be safe and 89.4 percent think they are effective.

This level of confidence is higher than among residents in other nations in the EU, where the corresponding averages are 90, 82.1 and 86.5 percent.

On the specific issue of the seasonal influenza jab, 76.4 percent of respondents in Greece said it is important and 78.8 percent are confident it is safe.

The survey also found that around 10 percent more Greeks believe vaccinations to be safe compared to 2015 when the last report was published.