Gori Davide, Capodici Angelo, La Fauci Giusy, Montalti Marco, Salussolia Aurelia, Soldà Giorgia, Di Valerio Zeno, Scognamiglio Francesca, Fantini Maria Pia, Leask Julie, Larson Heidi J, Profeti Stefania, Toth Federico, Lenzi Jacopo
Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Apr 13;11(4):839. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11040839.
Vaccine hesitancy was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019 as a major threat to global health. In Italy, reluctance to receive vaccines is a widespread phenomenon that was amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic by fear and mistrust in government. This study aims to depict different profiles and characteristics of people reluctant to vaccinate, focusing on the drivers of those who are in favor of and those who are opposed to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
A sample of 10,000 Italian residents was collected. A survey on COVID-19 vaccination behavior and possible determinants of vaccine uptake, delay, and refusal was administered to participants through a computer-assisted web interviewing method.
In our sample, 83.2% stated that they were vaccinated as soon as possible ("vaccinators"), 8.0% delayed vaccination ("delayers"), and 6.7% refused to be vaccinated ("no-vaccinators"). In general, the results show that being female, aged between 25 and 64, with an education level less than a high school diploma or above a master's degree, and coming from a rural area were characteristics significantly associated with delaying or refusing COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, it was found that having minimal trust in science and/or government (i.e., 1 or 2 points on a scale from 1 to 10), using alternative medicine as the main source of treatment, and intention to vote for certain parties were characteristics associated with profiles of "delayers" or "no-vaccinators". Finally, the main reported motivation for delaying or not accepting vaccination was fear of vaccine side effects (55.0% among delayers, 55.6% among no-vaccinators).
In this study, three main profiles of those who chose to be vaccinated are described. Since those who are in favor of vaccines and those who are not usually cluster in similar sociodemographic categories, we argue that findings from this study might be useful to policy makers when shaping vaccine strategies and choosing policy instruments.
世界卫生组织（WHO）在2019年将疫苗犹豫定义为对全球健康的重大威胁。在意大利，不愿接种疫苗是一种普遍现象，在新冠疫情期间因对政府的恐惧和不信任而加剧。本研究旨在描绘不愿接种疫苗人群的不同特征，重点关注支持和反对接种新冠疫苗人群的驱动因素。
收集了10000名意大利居民的样本。通过计算机辅助网络访谈方法，对参与者进行了关于新冠疫苗接种行为以及疫苗接种、延迟接种和拒绝接种可能决定因素的调查。
在我们的样本中，83.2%的人表示他们尽快接种了疫苗（“接种者”），8.0%的人延迟接种（“延迟者”），6.7%的人拒绝接种（“未接种者”）。总体而言，结果表明，女性、年龄在25至64岁之间、教育水平低于高中文凭或高于硕士学位以及来自农村地区是与延迟或拒绝接种新冠疫苗显著相关的特征。此外，还发现对科学和/或政府信任度极低（即1至10分制中的1或2分）、将替代医学作为主要治疗来源以及有意投票给某些政党是与“延迟者”或“未接种者”特征相关的因素。最后，报告的延迟或不接受接种的主要动机是担心疫苗副作用（延迟者中占55.0%，未接种者中占55.6%）。
本研究描述了选择接种疫苗人群的三种主要特征。由于支持疫苗接种者和不支持疫苗接种者通常聚集在相似的社会人口统计学类别中，我们认为本研究的结果可能有助于政策制定者制定疫苗策略和选择政策工具。
