Bankers keen to take the COVID vaccine

People working in finance are keen to take a vaccine for COVID-19.

Research released yesterday by Deutsche Bank shows that only 11% of markets professionals have no intention of ever getting vaccinated against the virus, down from 12% in September 2020. This compares favorably to the population as a whole: 7% of Britons say they won't get vaccinated in any circumstances; only 49% of Americans say they're definitely willing to be vaccinated. 

Deutsche didn't ask whether salespeople and traders expect to pay to jump the vaccine queue, but only 15% of respondents said they expected to be vaccinated within a month of a vaccine's launch. However, 23% told Deutsche they expected to be vaccinated within three months, and another 25% expected to be vaccinated within five months. This may be unrealistic given that the goal is to vaccinate the U.S. population within a year and a half.

Deutsche surveyed 600 markets professionals globally. Only 4% said they'd tested positive for COVID-19, but another 11% thought they might have had it. Deutsche has been conducting the bi-monthly survey throughout the year, and since September the proportion of respondents suggesting governments have under reacted to the virus has risen from 22% to 29%. Another 29% now think governments have reacted proportionately, while 27% think they've overreacted.

Deutsche Bank found, too, that 48% of respondents are now working entirely from home, up from 40% in October, but that 25% of respondents are now in the office full time (up from 23% in October). Enthusiasm for working from home has plateaued, although the proportion of markets people saying they're less productive at home has fallen from 42% in April 2020 to 28% this month.

Deutsche Bank's survey coincides results to a survey by Greenwich Associates, which found that only  4% of compliance professionals expect their firms to require traders to return to in-office trading desks every day after the pandemic.

Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash