While the delta wave is rolling across Europe and the number of infections is rising again, the discussion about a possible vaccination requirement is also increasing.

The federal government is keeping a distance from this, it relies on voluntariness.

And the results of the fifth report on Covid-19 vaccination rate monitoring in Germany actually give hope: Among all the unvaccinated in a recent survey, 67 percent said that they “definitely” or “probably” wanted to be vaccinated rather than not .

If you also take into account those who have been vaccinated at least once, the proportion is around 88 percent of those who are ready to or have been vaccinated.

But what about the others?

Sonja Kastilan

Responsible for the “Science” section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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Mr. Stöckel, you are a political scientist and deal with the subject of vaccination and vaccination skeptics.

What can you say about their attitudes or arguments?

I see the topic primarily from the perspective of my subject, so I can only say little about your fears or misperceptions, even if we are aware of them.

Our research on this at the University of Exeter began even before Corona, after colleagues published a study in 2019 that showed a clear link between populism and anti-vaccination, but was based on 2014 data.

We wanted to take a closer look, because it seemed plausible.

In what way?

That people who are critical of the elite, not only in politics but also in other areas, have no trust in the staff in the health sector.

They distrust the state, including science and medicine.

With the help of the Eurobarometer and other data, for example on the election of the European Parliament in 2019, we looked at that with regard to political attitudes.

With what result?

People who don't vote for mainstream parties are also more likely to be against vaccinations.

And the latter also applies to those who feel threatened by globalization, so that is also an indicator.

It is not about a traditional right or left, but about globalization and populism.

We carried out our first analysis - as I said before Corona - at the regional level and used WHO data on child protection vaccinations in the EU in order not only to take into account alleged plans, but also action.

In regions with more vaccine skeptics, the proportion of vaccinated children is statistically significantly lower, which means more risks for the health of the children.

Vaccine skeptics are not yet declared opponents, are they?

The difference is huge and has many nuances. For our studies we assumed only three groups: the generally positive vaccination supporters, whose number is not yet sufficient for herd immunity, the vaccine skeptics and the declared opponents, who only make up a few percent. For a variety of reasons you will not be able to get hold of them and convince them, but the skeptical will be more likely. They can be influenced by friends, and their doubts can be dispelled with information on, for example, side effects. Open communication on this, for example about the actual frequency of side effects in relation to the risks of an illness, is recommended: studies show that if you don't take people seriously, they feel treated downright and patronized.This information works on an individual level, for example from doctor to patient, usually better than through the RKI. If someone has faith in elites, this is less of a problem - they will rely on experts in the flood of information - than in the case of doubters who look around the Internet and find confirmation there.