VALLETTA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malta is the most enthusiastic country in Europe to take the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than 40 percent of respondents saying they wanted it as soon as possible, a latest Eurobarometer survey has shown.
Only four percent of respondents in Malta said that they would outrightly refuse the vaccine, according to the survey published on Tuesday.
The Irish were the second most keen for the vaccine in Europe, with 37 percent and Denmark with 35 percent. On the opposite end of the spectrum, at least a third of people surveyed in Bulgaria and Slovenia said they would never get vaccinated.
Conducted on Dec. 10-19, about a week before the first vaccine was even approved by the European Medicines Agency and the European Commission, the research surveyed almost 25,000 people across all European member states. The research was carried online except in Malta, where people were called by telephone.
The Maltese also had the highest rate in Europe, 83 percent, for those who were worried of getting infected with the virus. The EU average stood at 54 percent.
According to the latest figures published on Wednesday by the health authorities in Malta, the country has so far recorded 16,129 coronavirus cases and the total number of deaths has risen to 244.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in Malta and some other countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 64 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 15. Enditem
