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The UK population has the most confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, while Japan and South Korea have the least, according to a report based on data from an international survey in 15 countries.

The study, conducted between March and May, found that the most common reasons for vaccine indecision were concerns about side effects and fears about whether the stings had passed enough testing.

Among other common reasons respondents were concerns about not getting the vaccine they would prefer and concerns about whether the vaccines are effective enough.

“This global study reveals an important insight into why people might not be offered the Covid-19 vaccine if offered,” said Ara Darzi, a professor at the Institute for Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.

A YouGov survey found more than 68,000 people found that there are differences around the world, but overall trust in vaccines is more than 50 percent. People in the UK were the most confidential with 87 per cent of respondents saying they believed in vaccines, followed by Israel with 83 per cent.

South Korea and Japan have achieved only 47 percent confidence.

“Our program has been tracking people’s attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines since November and it’s encouraging to see confidence constantly climbing,” said Sarah Jones, joint project manager at the Institute for Global Health Innovation.

Confidence in different brands of vaccines also varied, with Pfizer / BioNTech being the most reliable in all age groups in nine of the 15 countries. Respondents were also invited to record their thoughts on the stings of AstraZeneca / Oxford, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sputnik V.

Americans showed the least trust in certain brands and had the highest proportion of people of all ages who said they did not trust any of them.

In the UK, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was most trusted by people under the age of 65 in March, although confidence has declined over time in all age groups.

In most other countries, confidence in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was low, as in the Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines.

The research was conducted in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.