There appears to be a degree of altruism from Australians in who should get priority for a safe and effective COVID 19 vaccine. Australians would prioritise essential health care workers, those with existing health conditions and those who care for children over others, choosing employment or health status over gender or ethnic background.
The strongest support was for essential health workers getting priority access to any vaccine over those who are not employed.
Only a very small percentage thinking those who are employed but not essential should get vaccinated before those who are not employed.
Nearly one fifth think those who have a health condition should be given priority access to a vaccine.
7% would give priority to those who have caring responsibilities for children.
There are only very small differences in the extent to which Australians would give a cohort a priority. Females get a slight priority over males, no difference in ethnicity, and, surprisingly given the evidence of higher Covid risk for the elderly, the older only get a slight priority over those who are younger.
Those who have a health condition, however, are deemed to be in a priority category be 17.5 per cent of respondents. Nearly 15 per cent think those who live in an area with a high rate of covid infections should be prioritised for a vaccine ahead of those in low covid areas.
7 per cent would give priority to those with caring responsibilities for a child.
What is a bigger consideration is the paid work that people do. According to those polled, a quarter ( 24.7 per cent) think essential health workers should get priority access to any vaccine over those who are not employed, 11 per cent of those who are essential workers but not in health should get priority, and only a small percentage (4.7%) think those who are employed but not essential should get vaccinated before those who are not employed.
The preference for health workers to be given priority when it comes to a covid vaccine is clear when people are asked to list occupations which should get early access.
Health workers, teachers and others whose job might be considered in or close to caring professions and who might be more likely to be exposed if there is an outbreak are much higher on a long list of occupations than those whose jobs are considered non-essential or don't need face to face contact.
When asked to make a choice on who gets first access to a vaccine, respondents tend to the altruistic.
Males are significantly more likely to prioritise a vaccine for females. For females, there is no difference.
Men put slightly more weight on the area where a person lives, while women put greater weight on the employment status and occupation of an individual as well as whether they had a pre-existing health condition or not.
The younger respondents are more likely to give greater priority to older Australians, and those who aren't employed are more likely to prioritise those who are employed. While preferences were relatively stable across the Australian population, on the margins people tended to preference those who had different characteristics to themselves to receive the vaccine first.