The Canterbury Hub

Latest news from CCCU's Journalism course

Coronavirus

University students vote on pandemic – polls

Students of Canterbury Christ Church University have voted on polls related to the pandemic.

The Canterbury Hub asked students of the university some yes, no questions to figure out how they’re feeling about the current circumstances we are under due to the pandemic. 

Restrictions in the UK are being lifted gradually over the next few months. On Monday the 29th of March we saw the rule of six fall back into place – just in time for the warm weather on Tuesday. People can now meet up to six people outdoors. Or, if you live in a household of more than six, you can meet one other household outside.

Back to the university campus

The ease of restrictions saw students heading back to university on the 8th of March. But, not all students returned at once. Only those who do practical courses who require equipment on campus have returned. The government’s roadmap hopes more students will gradually return to their university over the coming months. 

Our poll took place on Unified’s Instagram profile, Unified is the student magazine for the university. About 100 students answered in the poll.

Credit: unified.org.uk

So, we asked students if they were back on campus yet. 71% of students who answered said they were not yet back on campus.

Vaccinations

71% also said they have not yet had a Coronavirus vaccine.

When we then asked if people were booked in to get a vaccine – a huge 84% answered no with only 16% booked to get a vaccine.  

We could interpret this data in two ways. Firstly, that is a huge number of students who have not booked to be vaccinated so on the surface, it looks as though students do not have an interest in getting a Coronavirus vaccination.  

On the other hand, when this survey was done at the end of March, the age group who were next in line to be offered a vaccine were people in their 50’s and those who get priority due to where they work, or they have underlying health conditions. So, 16% of young people who took part in our poll being booked to get a vaccine is promising and may mean those who have been offered a vaccine are accepting.  

Getting back to normal

Students are known for loving a night out, so we asked students whether they would want to go to night clubs when they re-open. It may come as a surprise that it was a very close divide with the answers to this question. 52% said they would go to the clubs when they re-open, and 48% said they would not.  

We then asked them if they thought we would be back to normal by the 21st of June. A huge, 80% said they did not think we would be back to normal on this date.

Final thoughts?

Overall, the results of our polls have given a better indication of how students are feeling about getting a coronavirus vaccination as well as going back to normality. Only time will tell how right the majority were in thinking we will not be back to normal by the 21st of June.

Below are the original poll results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured image: Unsplash