Fifty-nine percent of Bulgarians are panicking because of the coronavirus pandemic. This shows the latest data collection of the National Pandemic Alarm.

European National Panels is a joint venture established by three marketing research agencies based in Prague, Czech Republic – NMS Market Research, Nielsen Admosphere and STEM/MARK. Besides home market, ENP currently operates proprietary panels also in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

A total of 5 European countries were surveyed, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. The aim of the project is to track the attitudes of Europeans towards the situation created because of the coronavirus.

Changes in public attitudes and sentiment are measured according to 5 indexes: covid-19 vaccination preparedness ("Vaccination Willingness Index"), degree of trust in the state and state institutions (Government Confidence Index"), fear level ("Panic Index"), the real impact of the current situation on people ("Impact Index") and the personal experience of people with COVID-19 (Personal Experience Index).

Since the last surge of epidemic wave in February, the panic index has risen by 4 points in Bulgaria, reaching nearly 59%. However, it is still significantly lower than in the other countries surveyed. The growth is most likely due to the rise in morbidity since the beginning of March, which has led to a tightening of anti-epidemic measures in the country. By comparison, in the Czech Republic, the index scored 64% - the same level recorded in April last year. Similar levels were measured in Poland - 65%, as well as in Slovakia and Hungary, which scored the same values of 66%.

On the other hand, the vaccination willingness index increased in March in all countries surveyed. The highest vaccination intent rate was measured in the Czech Republic (58%), as the level in Hungary (57%) also increased - values for both countries have increased by 9% since the last wave. In Bulgaria, the index increased by 4 points (39%), but is still much lower than in other countries. Slovakia increased by 2 points (54%), while in Poland there was no change since the second half of February (50%).

As for citizens willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the study shows that Czechs (58%) are most willing to be inocilated. Then come Hungarians (57%), followed by Slovaks (54%) Attitudes of Bulgarians indicate that they are the least likely to get vaccinated (39%).

According to the survey, 63% of Bulgarians take the effects of the pandemic relatively more seriously. By comparison, in the other countries the values of this index were 61 % for Poland, 63 % for the Czech Republic, 68 % for Slovakia and 66 % for Hungary, respectively.

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