At a time when some countries are starting to make the vaccine against Covid-19 mandatory, the Portuguese government has already made it clear that it does not intend to go ahead with this measure.

However, a study carried out by Deco shows that the majority of the population would agree with the mandatory vaccination of adults, especially when it comes to health professionals or people who deal directly with the public.

According to the study, carried out in conjunction with consumer associations in Spain, Italy and Belgium, 67% of Portuguese believe that the vaccine against Covid-19 should be mandatory for adults. The percentage rises to 79% when it comes to obligatorily vaccinating health professionals and those providing assistance, school and university employees and public service workers.

However, of the 976 respondents, aged between 18 and 74 years, there are still some doubts: the vaccination of minors. At this point, only 52% of respondents are in favour of making vaccination mandatory for children and young people between 12 and 17 years old, with an even lower percentage (42%) agreeing with the obligation of vaccination for children under 12 years old.

Even so, "this does not mean that most respondents are against mandatory vaccination of children and adolescents," says Deco in the study. This is because one in four Portuguese neither agrees nor disagrees (one of the answer options) that the vaccine is mandatory. Only 15% to 21% of respondents say they are against mandatory vaccination in children.

Mandatory vaccination aside, there are other concerns among the Portuguese, especially with regard to the shortage of vaccines and tests in developing countries: six out of ten respondents vaccinated or with the vaccine marked are concerned about these issues.