Influences on Attitudes regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, with the United States being highly affected. A vaccine provides the best hope for a permanent solution to controlling the pandemic. However, to be effective, a vaccine must be accepted and used by a large majority of the population. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the relationships of several factors with attitudes toward potential COVID-19 vaccination. The survey was administered to 316 respondents across the United States by a survey corporation. Prior vaccine usage and attitudes predicted attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. Assessment of the severity of COVID-19 for the United States was also predictive. Approximately 68% of all respondents were supportive of being vaccinated for COVID-19, but side effects, efficacy, and length of testing remained concerns. Longer testing, increased efficacy and development in the United States were significantly associated with increased vaccine acceptance. Messages promoting COVID-19 vaccination should seek to alleviate the concerns of those who are already vaccine-hesitant. Messaging directed at the benefits of vaccination for the United States as a country would address the second predictive factor. Enough time should be taken to allay concerns about both short and long-term side effects before a vaccine is released.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Worldwide: A Concise Systematic Review of Vaccine Acceptance Rates

“…The huge leaps in developing efficacious and safe COVID-19 vaccines within a short period were unprecedented [81][82][83]. Nevertheless, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy can be the limiting step in the global efforts to control the current pandemic with its negative health and socio-economic effects [43,84,85].…”

Molecular dynamics simulations and functional studies reveal that hBD-2 binds SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD and blocks viral entry into ACE2 expressing cells

“…While vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have recently been approved by the FDA and are planned for distribution and administration in a large scale to cover most of the American population over the next year, we see the AMP strategy as complementary to vaccines. While the CoV-2 vaccines appear to show >90% efficacy, there will certainly be some degree of morbidity and mortality, as seen in all vaccines (Kaselitz et al, 2019), many people will refuse vaccination (Pogue et al, 2020; Schwarzinger et al, 2010) and a significant number will either fail to mount effective neutralizing antibodies or high enough titers (Goodwin et al, 2006; Ndifon et al, 2009; Ovsyannikova et al, 2017). Many of these low or non-responders are predicted to be in the COVID-19 high-risk population.…”

Spain’s Hesitation at the Gates of a COVID-19 Vaccine

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