Did Online Surveys Really Know Who Would Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

People were unsure about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. This made it hard to plan and use resources well. A study looked at how well online surveys could predict who would actually get the vaccine. They asked over 5, 000 people from 13 countries if they planned to get vaccinated. Later, they checked if these people actually got the vaccine. The surveys were pretty good at predicting who would get vaccinated. About 80% of the people who said they would get the vaccine did get it. But the surveys were not as good at predicting who would not get the vaccine. Only about 52% of the people who said they would not get the vaccine actually did not get it. Some people were more likely to follow through with their plans. Those with a university education were more consistent in their actions. People with right-leaning political views were less consistent. But the study points out that more research is needed to make these findings more reliable. In times of crisis, quick and simple surveys can help speed up the rollout of health technologies. But the surveys need to be accurate. Low accuracy can slow things down. High accuracy is needed for important medical decisions.