Koskan Alexis M, Teeter Benjamin S, Daniel Casey L, LoCoco Iris E, Jensen Ulrich T, Ayers Stephanie L
College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 425 N. 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ USA.
Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham St, Little Rock, AR USA.
Z Gesundh Wiss. 2023 Jan 20:1-13. doi: 10.1007/s10389-023-01819-2.
COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of complications and hospitalizations due to this virus. When COVID-19 vaccines first became commercially available, roughly 30% of U.S. adults reported being hesitant to receive these newly developed vaccines, and 15% said they would not receive the vaccine. However, by May 2021, 19% of adults were vaccine-hesitant, and 13% refused to vaccinate against COVID-19. It is critical to understand why adults' degree of willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 changed over time to plan for future pandemics and vaccination campaigns.
We conducted two waves of survey research over five months (January and May 2021) with a panel of 890 U.S. adults. One survey question assessed willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19. The response option included a slider scale ranging from 0 (signifying complete unwillingness) to 10 (complete willingness). We asked participants whose willingness score changed by more than one point to report their rationale for their change in perceptions. We conducted a conventional content analysis on all qualitative responses.
We analyzed qualitative responses for 289 participants, 54.7% of whom had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 by May 2021. Among those who remained unvaccinated, 36.1% reported increased willingness to vaccinate. The most commonly cited reasons for becoming more willing to receive the vaccine include believing that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, protecting against the pandemic, and desiring to return to pre-pandemic life. Reasons for increased COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy include vaccine safety concerns, the low perceived need for the vaccine, distrust in how COVID-19 vaccines are made and of larger institutions such as the government and pharmaceutical companies, and concerns about vaccine effectiveness.
Findings illuminate the rationale behind individuals' changes in their degree of willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19. It is critical to incorporate these considerations in future vaccine rollout initiatives to increase the public's vaccine confidence.
新冠病毒疫苗显著降低了因该病毒导致并发症和住院的风险。当新冠病毒疫苗首次投入商业使用时，约30%的美国成年人表示对接种这些新研发的疫苗犹豫不决，15%的人表示不会接种疫苗。然而，到2021年5月，19%的成年人对接种疫苗持犹豫态度，13%的人拒绝接种新冠病毒疫苗。了解成年人接种新冠病毒疫苗的意愿程度为何随时间变化，对于规划未来的大流行和疫苗接种活动至关重要。
我们在五个月内（2021年1月和5月）对890名美国成年人组成的小组进行了两轮调查研究。一个调查问题评估了接种新冠病毒疫苗的意愿。回答选项包括一个滑动量表，范围从0（表示完全不愿意）到10（完全愿意）。我们要求意愿得分变化超过一分的参与者报告其观念变化的理由。我们对所有定性回答进行了常规内容分析。
我们分析了289名参与者的定性回答，其中54.7%的人在2021年5月时尚未接种新冠病毒疫苗。在那些仍未接种疫苗的人中，36.1%的人表示接种意愿增强。最常被提及的更愿意接种疫苗的原因包括相信新冠病毒疫苗安全有效、预防大流行以及渴望恢复到大流行前的生活。对新冠病毒疫苗犹豫增加的原因包括对疫苗安全性的担忧、对疫苗的低感知需求、对新冠病毒疫苗生产方式以及对政府和制药公司等大型机构的不信任，以及对疫苗有效性的担忧。
研究结果阐明了个人接种新冠病毒疫苗意愿程度变化背后的理由。在未来的疫苗推广举措中纳入这些考虑因素，对于提高公众对疫苗的信心至关重要。
