GSSC Avangarde poll finds 77 percent of Romanians want schools to reopen on February 8

More than three-quarters of Romanians consider schools should reopen on February 8, reveals a nationwide barometer poll conducted by the Avangarde Social and Behavioral Studies Group (GSSC). The poll found that 77 percent of Romanians believe that schools should reopen on February 8, 16 percent take an opposite view, and 7 percent do not know or didn't answer the question. The survey shows that 48 percent of Romanians are concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic, 27 percent expressed mild concerns, 13 percent said they are not concerned at all, 11 percent are deeply concerned about it, and 1 percent picked the 'don't know/no opinion' option. 79 percent of the respondents do not agree with a new total lockdown decision, 17 percent would agree with it and 4 percent said they didn't know or gave no answer. Also, 35 percent of the polled said that they will definitely get the COVID-19 vaccine, 30 percent said they will definitely not take the jab, 27 percent are still undecided, and 8 percent didn't know or didn't answer the question. More than one-third (39 percent) of the respondents stated that from the information available so far, they rather don't trust the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, 37 percent said they trust them, and 24 percent chose not to answer. The poll also reveals that 73 percent of the respondents consider that Romania is rather headed in the wrong direction, 15 percent consider the opposite, and 12 percent do not know or did not answer. The poll was conducted nationwide between January 15 and 17 on a sample of 710 people by the CATI (computer-assisted phone interview) method and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Claudia Stănescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)