The UK population has the highest confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, while Japan and South Korea have the lowest, according to a report based on data from an international survey of 15 countries.
The survey, conducted between March and May, showed the most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy were concerns about side effects and fears over whether jabs have been through enough testing.
Respondents’ other frequent reasons included concerns about not getting the vaccine they would prefer, and worries over whether the vaccines are effective enough.
“This global survey reveals important insight into why people might not put themselves forward to take a Covid-19 vaccine if offered,” said Ara Darzi, a professor at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.
The YouGov survey recorded findings from more than 68,000 people showed that there is variation across the world but overall, confidence in vaccines is greater than 50 per cent. People in the UK were the most trusting with 87 per cent saying they trusted the vaccines, followed by Israel with 83 per cent.
South Korea and Japan scored just 47 per cent confidence.
“Our programme has been tracking people’s attitudes towards Covid-19 vaccines since November and it’s encouraging to see that trust has steadily been climbing,” said Sarah Jones, co-project lead from the Institute of Global Health Innovation.
Trust in different vaccine brands also varied, with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine being the most trusted across all age groups in nine of the 15 countries. Respondents were also invited to record their thoughts about the AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sputnik V jabs.
Americans showed the least trust in specific brands and had the highest proportion of people across all ages who said they didn’t trust any of them.
In the UK the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was the most trusted by people aged under 65 in March, although confidence has fallen over time across all age groups.
In most other countries trust in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was low, as with the Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines.
The surveys were conducted in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.
Prince Charles praised the "personal courage and sacrifice" of those who died in the D-Day landings as a new British memorial was unveiled on the 77th anniversary of the historic operation.
The heir to the throne was unable to attend the opening on a hillside overlooking Gold Beach at Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy, due to COVID-19 restrictions, but gave a speech in a recorded video message.
Image:Veterans watch the opening via livestream at the National Memorial Arboretum
Image:Memories remain undimmed despite the passing of the years
Former soldiers who took part in the liberation mission who were also unable to attend gathered with their families at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to watch the live-streamed event remotely on a large screen.
The Last Post was played at 11am, followed by a two-minute silence.
In France, British and French wreaths were placed in front of the D-Day wall at the memorial as bagpipes played in the background.
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The RAF's Red Arrows then flew overhead in formation to mark the opening.
The £30m memorial, which was paid for by the UK government and benefactors, records the names of 22,442 men and women under British command who fell on D-Day and in the Battle of Normandy.
Image:The memorial records the 22,442 men and women under British command who fell on D-Day and in the Battle of Normandy
Image:Each name etched on the stone 'is an individual story'
Gold Beach was one of three where British forces landed on the morning of 6 June 1944, to begin the liberation of western Europe.
In his video message, the prince, who is patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said: "I particularly wanted to address my first remarks directly to those whose presence today, either in person or online, really matters the most.
"I know just how much our incomparable veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their memorial for themselves.
"Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach."
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'It was very upsetting': D-Day veteran remembers landings
Charles added: "As I said when I first became aware of the plans for this long overdue British memorial, it has for many years been a concern to me that the memory of these remarkable individuals should be preserved for future generations as an example of personal courage and sacrifice, for the benefit of the wider national and, indeed, international community."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also paid tribute, tweeting: "As General Eisenhower said, when Allied troops landed on Normandy's beaches that June morning in 1944 the eyes of the world were upon them.
"The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere marched with them. 77 years on, we thank and remember them. "
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D-Day memorial unveiled in Normandy
George Batts, Normandy veteran and patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said: "It really is a dream come true for a lot of us who never thought it would happen.
"It has been an ambition of mine for many years and to finally see the completed memorial is a wonderful moment. I am so proud.
"We left a lot of mates behind and now I know that they will never be forgotten."
Image:The Bagpipes were played as wreaths were laid at the memorial
Image:Columns bear the names of those killed between D-Day and the Liberation of Paris
Bob Gamble of the Royal British Legion said: "D-Day remains one of the most remarkable Allied wartime operations in history, and it is our great privilege to have brought so many of our Normandy veterans and their family members together to mark the 77th anniversary of the landings.
"It remains as important as ever for us to remember and pay tribute to the immense bravery and sacrifice shown by all who served and fell during the Battle of Normandy."
Image:The memorial features the D-Day Sculpture by David Williams-Ellis
Image:The site will be a permanent reminder of the sacrifice made
British Ambassador to France Lord Llewellyn said: "So many veterans campaigned tirelessly for the British Normandy Memorial and I am honoured to open their memorial today and see their dream come to fruition.
"Behind every one of the 22,442 names etched on the stone is an individual story - a father, a son, a brother, a daughter, an uncle or a grandfather or a great grandfather.
"The memorial will be a permanent reminder of the sacrifice made by those who died, the debt we owe to them and the importance of teaching the next generation about what happened in Normandy 77 years ago."
The memorial features the D-Day Sculpture by David Williams-Ellis, the D-Day Wall featuring the names of those who fell on D-Day itself and, on 160 stone columns, the names of those others who lost their lives between D-Day and the Liberation of Paris at the end of August 1944.
The site also includes a French memorial dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during the period.
A memorial honouring soldiers who died under British command on D-Day - and in the fighting that followed - has been unveiled in France on the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
The British Normandy Memorial records the names of the 22,442 people who were killed on D-Day and at the Battle of Normandy.
It cost £30m and was designed by British architect Liam O'Connor.
Due to Covid restrictions, veterans watched the unveiling via video link.
Only a small number of people were able to attend the event in the Normandy town of Ver-sur-Mer, where the memorial is situated.
Around 100 veterans unable to travel to Normandy watched a live broadcast from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
At 11:00 BST the Last Post was played, ushering in a two-minute silence.
Meanwhile, British and French wreaths were placed in front of the D-Day Wall at the memorial in France as bagpipes played.
The RAF's Red Arrows then flew overhead in formation to mark the opening of the memorial.
It remembers those who died in the largest seaborne invasion in history, as about 160,000 troops from Britain, the US, Canada, France and other Allied nations landed in Normandy.
This marked the beginning the liberation of France from the Nazis and paved the way for victory on the Western Front in World War Two.
Paul Harris said his grandfather, Private George Hanks, who died aged 30 on 7 August 1944 during the months of fighting that followed the D-Day landings, "gave up everything" to liberate Normandy and the rest of Europe.
Mr Harris told BBC Breakfast: "He went off to fight, he left my grandmother a widow with a young baby... He gave us what we have now and that memory has to be preserved."
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Private Hanks was killed by an artillery shell as his company pressed ahead towards German fortifications.
His family say that only the day before he had finally received a letter containing a picture of his baby girl, Rosemary - Paul's mother.
In a video message the Prince of Wales, patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said it was important the memory of these "remarkable individuals should be preserved for future generations as an example of personal courage and sacrifice, for the benefit of the wider national and, indeed, international community".
"I know just how much our incomparable veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their memorial for themselves" he said.
"Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans - or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach."
'Eyes of the world'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also paid tribute to those who fought on D-Day, recalling General Eisenhower's words that as they landed on the Normandy beaches "the eyes of the world were on them".
"The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere marched with them. 77 years on, we thank and remember them," the prime minister said on Twitter.
Lord Edward Llewellyn, the British Ambassador to France, presided over the ceremony and was joined by Lord Peter Ricketts, chairman of Trustees at the Normandy Memorial Trust, and senior French guests.
The memorial sits atop a hillside overlooking Gold Beach, one of three where soldiers landed on the morning of 6 June 1944.
The site consists of a temple-like structure containing 160 stone columns inscribed with the names of the dead, a bronze sculpture of three charging infantrymen by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis, and a wall featuring the names of those who were killed on D-Day itself.
Among those who lost their lives during D-Day and the Battle of Normandy are two women, both nurses: 27-year-old Sister Mollie Evershed and Sister Dorothy Anyta Field, 32.
Sister Evershed was on a Hospital Carrier ship, the Amsterdam, treating casualties from Juno Beach when the ship hit a mine.
As it sank, she and another nurse went below decks and carried 75 men to safety, helping them into a waiting lifeboat. But she and her fellow nurse went down with the ship.
She was posthumously mentioned in dispatches and awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct.
The memorial also bears the name of Corporal Sidney Bates, awarded the Victoria Cross at the age of 23 for his extraordinary feat in holding Perrier Ridge in the face of an advance by two divisions including Panzer tanks.
Fearing his section would be overwhelmed, Corporal Bates - known as "Basher Bates - seized the Bren gun of a fallen comrade and charged forward, repeatedly rising to his feet again after being shot three times.
Even after a mortar brought him down, eyewitnesses said he continued firing from the ground, eventually forcing the enemy to retreat. He died two days later.
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There is also a monument dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during the period.
The British Normandy Memorial had originally been due to open last September but it was postponed due to the pandemic.
Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the British army, said it would stand as an "an everlasting memorial to the greatest amphibious operation ever to have taken place in history".
"It was so important that it played a significant role in ending the Second World War and bringing peace and freedom to Europe," he told BBC Breakfast.
He added that the constructing the monument was the "right and proper thing to have done" to honour fallen servicemen and women, but that it "perhaps should have been done 30 or 40 years ago".
A memorial honouring soldiers who died under British command on D-Day - and in the fighting that followed - has been unveiled in France on the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
The British Normandy Memorial records the names of the 22,442 people who were killed on D-Day and at the Battle of Normandy.
It cost £30m and was designed by British architect Liam O'Connor.
Due to Covid restrictions, veterans watched the unveiling via video link.
Only a small number of people were able to attend the event in the Normandy town of Ver-sur-Mer, where the memorial is situated.
Lord Edward Llewellyn, the British Ambassador to France, presided over the ceremony and was joined by Lord Peter Ricketts, chairman of Trustees at the Normandy Memorial Trust, and senior French guests.
Around 100 veterans unable to travel to Normandy watched a live broadcast from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
In a video message the Prince of Wales, patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said it was important the memory of these "remarkable individuals should be preserved for future generations as an example of personal courage and sacrifice, for the benefit of the wider national and, indeed, international community".
"I know just how much our incomparable veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their Memorial for themselves" he said.
"Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans - or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach."
The memorial is the culmination of years of campaigning by D-Day veterans.
The memorial sits atop a hillside overlooking Gold Beach, one of three where soldiers from Britain, the US, Canada and France landed on the morning of 6 June 1944 to begin the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis during the Second World War.
The site consists of a temple-like structure containing 160 stone columns inscribed with the names of the dead, a bronze sculpture of three charging infantrymen by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis, and a wall featuring the names of those who were killed on D-Day itself.
PA Media
There is also a memorial dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during the period.
The British Normandy Memorial had originally been due to open last September but it was postponed due to the pandemic.
Paul Harris, whose grandfather Private George Hanks died aged 30 on 7 August 1944 during Operation Bluecoat, said his grandfather "gave up everything" to liberate Normandy and the rest of Europe.
Mr Harris told BBC Breakfast: "He went off to fight, he left my grandmother a widow with a young baby... He gave us what we have now and that memory has to be preserved."
Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the British army, said the memorial would stand as an "an everlasting memorial to the greatest amphibious operation ever to have taken place in history".
"It was so important that it played a significant role in ending the Second World War and bringing peace and freedom to Europe," he told BBC Breakfast.
He added that the memorial was the "right and proper thing to have done" to honour fallen servicemen and women, but that it "perhaps should have been done 30 or 40 years ago".
The Indian (Delta) variant of COVID-19 is 40% more transmissible than the Kent (Alpha) strain, Matt Hancock has told Sky News.
The health secretary said the new variant had made decisions behind the 21 June unlocking of restrictions "more difficult".
Speaking on the Trevor Phillips On Sunday show, Mr Hancock said: "That figure, around 40% more transmissible, is the latest advice that I have. That means that it is more difficult to manage this virus with the new Delta variant, but crucially we believe that with two doses of the vaccine you get the same protection as the old variant."
The health secretary also said vaccines would be opened up to under-30s in the next few days.
"This week we will be opening up vaccines to the under-30s and so we are getting a step closer to the point when we've been able to offer the vaccine to all adults in this country," he said.
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Mr Hancock also said vaccinating children over the age of 12 would have its 'upsides' for education.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Friday approved the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.
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"I'm delighted the regulator, having looked very carefully at the data, has come forward and said that the jab is safe and effective for those who are over the age of 12.
"We're taking advice currently from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI), the experts in this, on the right approach to putting this into practise," Mr Hancock said.
"I want to protect education as much as anybody does, and so making sure that we don't have those whole bubbles having to go home, especially as we saw over the autumn for instance, that has upsides for education," he added.
He said the link between cases and hospitalisations has been "severed but not broken".
Mr Hancock went on: "Everybody must go and get their second jab though because the first isn't as effective on its own.
"We all need to go and get vaccinated and that way we will break this link between the number of cases to the number of hospitalisations."
The government's third test is to check that infection rates are not causing a surge in people going to hospital and putting the NHS under unsustainable pressure.
