By Juliano Oliveira
Seven out of ten Australians are favourable to the compulsory use of masks against COVID-19, has shown a survey conducted by Roy Morgan.
Over two-thirds of the interviewed (68%) don’t want state borders to be completely open, while 77% is willing to be vaccinated if a new Coronavirus vaccine became publicly available.
The survey took place on Thursday, January 14, and Friday, January 15, 2021, with 1,243 Australians aged over 18.
“A clear majority of 72% of Australians support compulsory mask-wearing with support highest in the two States with the highest number of COVID-19 cases – NSW (80%) and Victoria (77%),” Michele Levine, Roy Morgan’s CEO, said.
“Unsurprisingly support for compulsory wearing of masks is much lower in all other states with only 53% of South Australians, 63% of West Australians and 64% of Queenslanders in support of the measure”.
When political affiliation was taken into account, supporters of the three main political parties in the country agreed to be vaccinated: 78% of L-NP supporters, 77% of ALP voters and 81% of Greens.
“There is also not such a great partisan divide on the issue as has been seen in other countries such as the United States. Large majorities of L-NP supporters (71%), ALP supporters (74%) and Greens supporters (82%) are all in favour of the compulsory wearing of masks,” explained Ms Levine.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is set to be rolled out across Australia starting from next month and the good news is a clear majority of 77% of Australians say they will be vaccinated when the vaccine becomes publicly available – and this support is strong across all sections of the community including both genders, people of all ages, supporters of different political parties and in every State and Territory.”