Many Britons would be willing to have their vaccine appointment late into the night and into the early morning
After initially only offering COVID-19 vaccines between 8am and 8pm, the government has announced that it will offer vaccinations around clock as soon as possible.
Previously, Downing Street had said that all-night vaccinations weren’t being offered as there was “not a clamour for appointments late into the night or early in the morning”, but new YouGov research shows that, in fact, many Brits are willing to take late night and early morning slots for their jabs.
Two in five Britons (43%) would be willing to have their COVID-19 vaccine appointment during the graveyard shift (between midnight and 5.59am), compared to 32% who would turn down an appointment during these early morning hours. Over half (56%) of people would be willing to have their appointment between 6am and the current appointment start time of 8am, while only 21% would be not be willing to having their shot this early.
At least seven in ten people would be willing take appointments during the rollout’s current operating hours of 8am-8pm, with the most popular times being between 12pm and 5.59pm when 77% of people would be willing to take an appointment.
Even after hours, most Britons are still willing to get their vaccine. Two thirds of people (67%) would be willing to have an appointment between 8pm and 9.59pm, compared to just 12% who would not. Another 53% would be willing to show up during the night between 10pm and 11.59pm for their vaccine, while around two in five (23%) would prefer not to have an appointment so late in the night.
Appointments at inconvenient times are more popular with men. Half of men (49%) willing to take a slot between midnight and 5.59am, as do 59% for between 10pm and 11.59pm. Among women those figures are about ten points lower, at 37% and 48% respectively.
Older Britons are also more willing than their younger counterparts to take an out-of-hours appointment for their COVID-19 vaccine. For example, 56% of the over 55s would be willing to venture out between 10pm and 11:59pm to get their vaccine compared to 48% of the 18 to 24-year olds willing to do the same.
