Objective In the fight against coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), vaccination is vital in achieving herd immunity, with many Asian countries starting to vaccinate frontline workers. However, expedited vaccine development has led to hesitancy amongst the general population. We evaluated the willingness of healthcare workers to receive COVID-19 vaccine. Methods From 12 th to 21 st December 2020, we recruited 1720 healthcare workers from six countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Bhutan. The self-administrated survey collected information on willingness to vaccinate, perception of COVID-19, vaccine concerns, COVID-19 risk profile, stigma, pro-socialness scale, and trust in health authorities. Results More than 95% of healthcare workers were willing to vaccinate. These participants were more likely to perceive the pandemic as severe, considered the vaccine safe, had less financial concerns, less stigmatization to the vaccine, increased pro-socialness mindset, and trust in health authorities. In multivariable analysis, high perceived risk index of the pandemic, lower physical harm index of vaccine, and high pro-socialness index were independent predictors. Conclusions Majority of healthcare workers in Asia are willing to receive COVID-19 vaccination. The perceived susceptibility, potential low risk of harm from the vaccine and pro-socialness are main drivers. These encouraging findings may help formulate vaccination strategies in other countries.

Background Acceptance and willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine are unknown. Aims We compared attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination in people suffering from depression or anxiety disorder and people without mental disorders, and their willingness to pay for it. Method Adults with depression or anxiety disorder (n = 79) and healthy controls (n = 134) living in Chongqing, China, completed a cross-sectional study between 13 and 26 January 2021. We used a validated survey to assess eight aspects related to attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Results Seventy-six people with depression or anxiety disorder (96.2%) and 134 healthy controls (100%) reported willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A significantly higher proportion of people with depression or anxiety disorder (64.5%) were more willing to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine than healthy controls (38.1%) (P ≤ 0.001). After multivariate adjustment, severity of depression and anxiety was significantly associated with willingness to pay for COVID-19 vaccination among psychiatric patients (P = 0.048). Non-healthcare workers (P = 0.039), health insurance (P = 0.003), living with children (P = 0.006) and internalised stigma (P = 0.002) were significant factors associated with willingness to pay for COVID-19 vaccine in healthy controls. Conclusions To conclude, psychiatric patients in Chongqing, China, showed high acceptance and willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine. Factors associated with willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine differed between psychiatric patients and healthy controls.