More than 50% Pakistanis support PM Imran's COVID-19 response: poll

A majority of Pakistanis support Prime Minister Imran Khan's approach and handling of the prevalent coronavirus situation, according to a survey report by Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) published on Wednesday.

The report showed that among the 52% of the "satisfied" Pakistanis, 25% said the performance was "very good" and 27% believe it was "good".

On the other hand, a substantial 42% seem dissatisfied with the prime minister's response to the pandemic — 14% said that the Centre showed "bad" performance while 28% said it was "very bad".

When comparing Sindh government's policy seeking a complete lockdown and PM Imran's "smart lockdown" strategy, the majority of the people rooted for the premier.

As many as 63% supported PM Imran's policy, whereas 21% approved of Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah's strategy.

The survey revealed that 33% of the respondents believed that the carelessness exhibited by masses was the reason for the spread of the virus, while 11% believe that a "lenient" lockdown was behind the spread.

The report also said that a majority of the population, 67%, are ready to get themselves vaccinated if a vaccine for the novel virus is available in Pakistan while 25% expressed doubts and said they would not get vaccinated.

Explaining the reason behind not getting vaccinated, 19% of respondents said it couldn't be trusted, 17% believed it wasn't needed, 15% expressed the virus was nothing but a rumour, and 13% claimed it would kill them.

The IPOR poll of 1,702 adults was conducted June 19-30 through Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI) had 54% of respondents from Punjab, 23% Sindh, 17% KP, 6% Balochistan.

The survey consisted of 54% male participants and 46% female. Of these, 19% were from the age group 18-25, 47% were between 26 and 40 years old, 20% were between 41 and 50, and 14%were above 50 years of age.