Mistrust in biomedical research and vaccine hesitancy: the forefront challenge in the battle against COVID-19 in Italy

Palamenghi, Lorenzo; Barello, Serena; Boccia, Stefania; Graffigna, Guendalina

doi:10.1007/s10654-020-00675-8

Cited by 377 publications

(370 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Consistent with the present study, other studies appearing after our study had been completed have found that vaccination hesitancy is associated with negative attitudes toward a SARSCoV2 vaccine, including concerns about safety and efficacy (Fisher et al, 2020;Neumann-Böhme et al, 2020;Palamenghi et al, 2020), and doubts about the necessity for vaccination (Dodd et al, 2020). Findings from the present study, along with results from previous studies, have important implications for public policy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

A Proactive Approach for Managing COVID-19: The Importance of Understanding the Motivational Roots of Vaccination Hesitancy for SARS-CoV2

et al. 2020

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Importance: Vaccination hesitancy-the reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated-is a leading global health threat (World Health Organization, 2019). It is imperative to identify the prevalence of vaccination hesitancy for SARS-CoV2 in order to understand the scope of the problem and to identify its motivational roots in order to proactively prepare to address the problem when a vaccine eventually becomes available. Objective: To identify (1) the prevalence of vaccination hesitancy for a SARS-CoV2 vaccine, (2) the motivational roots of this hesitancy, and (3) the most promising incentives for improving the likelihood of vaccination uptake when a vaccine does become available. Design, Setting, and Participants: A cross-sectional sample of 3,674 American and Canadian adults assessed during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020. Main Outcomes: Measures of vaccination intention (i.e., "If a vaccine for COVID-19 was available, would you get vaccinated?"), attitudes toward vaccines in general and specific to SARS-CoV2 using the Vaccination Attitudes Examination Scale, and incentives for getting vaccinated for those who reported they would not get vaccinated. Results: Many American (25%) and Canadian (20%) respondents said that they would not get vaccinated against SARS-CoV2 if a vaccine was available. Nonadherence rates of this magnitude would make it difficult or impossible to achieve herd immunity. Vaccine rejection was most strongly correlated with mistrust of vaccine benefit, and also correlated with worry about unforeseen future effects, concerns about commercial profiteering from pharmaceutical companies, and preferences for natural immunity. When asked about incentives for getting vaccinated, respondents were most likely to report that evidence for rigorous testing and safety of the vaccine were of greatest importance.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

A Proactive Approach for Managing COVID-19: The Importance of Understanding the Motivational Roots of Vaccination Hesitancy for SARS-CoV2

et al. 2020

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“…pandemic [24,73]. Thus, estimates of vaccine acceptance rates can be helpful to plan actions and intervention measures necessary to increase the awareness and assure people about the safety and benefits of vaccines, which in turn would help to control virus spread and alleviate the negative effects of this unprecedented pandemic [74,75].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide: a systematic review of vaccine acceptance rates

Sallam

2021

Preprint

162

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IntroductionUtility of vaccine campaigns to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not merely dependent on vaccine efficacy and safety. Vaccine acceptance among the general public and the healthcare workers, appears to have a decisive role for successful control of the pandemic.AimTo provide an up-to-date assessment of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance rates worldwide.MethodsA systematic search of the peer-reviewed English survey literature indexed in PubMed was done on December 25, 2020. Results from 30 studies, met the inclusion criteria and formed the basis for final COVID-19 vaccine acceptance estimates. Results of an additional recent survey from Jordan and Kuwait was considered in this review as well.ResultsSurvey studies on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates were found from 33 different countries. Among adults representing the general public, the highest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates were found in Ecuador (97.0%), Malaysia (94.3%), Indonesia (93.3%) and China (91.3%). On the other hand, the lowest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates were found in Kuwait (23.6%), Jordan (28.4%), Italy (53.7), Russia (54.9%), Poland (56.3%), US (56.9%), and France (58.9%). Only eight surveys among healthcare workers (doctors, nurses) were found, with vaccine acceptance rates ranging from 27.7% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 78.1% in Israel. In a majority of survey studies among the general public (62%), the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination showed a level of ≥ 70%.ConclusionsLow rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were reported in the Middle East, Russia, Africa and several European countries. This could represent a major problem in the global efforts that aim to control the current COVID-19 pandemic. More studies are recommended to address the scope of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Such studies are particularly needed in the Middle East Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle and Latin America.Graphical AbstractCOVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates worldwideFor countries with more than one survey study, the vaccine acceptance rate of the latest survey was used in this graph. The estimates were also based on studies from the general population, except in the following cases were no studies from the general public were found (Australia: parents/guardians; DRC: healthcare workers; Hong Kong: healthcare workers; Malta: healthcare workers).

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“…However, a major hindrance to achieving proper vaccination and eventual herd immunity can be vaccine hesitancy among the general public [ 23 ]. Vaccine hesitancy is becoming an important obstacle for preventive strategies for combating infectious diseases, and is seen frequently for the prospective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines [ 24 , 25 ]. In addition, a sole dependence on vaccination can result in a worse outcome if other protection strategies are ignored [ 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Rates of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Its Association with Conspiracy Beliefs: A Study in Jordan and Kuwait among Other Arab Countries

et al. 2021

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Vaccination could be an effective strategy for slowing the spread of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy could pose a serious problem for COVID-19 prevention, due to the spread of misinformation surrounding the ongoing pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes towards the prospective COVID-19 vaccines among the general public in Jordan, Kuwait and other Arab countries. We also aimed to assess the association between COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and conspiracy beliefs. This study used an online survey distributed in December 2020, with items assessing conspiracies regarding COVID-19’s origin and vaccination. Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines were assessed using the Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (VCBS), with higher scores indicating a greater belief in vaccine conspiracy. A total of 3414 respondents completed the survey, the majority being residents of Jordan (n = 2173, 63.6%), Kuwait (n = 771, 22.6%) and Saudi Arabia (n = 154, 4.5%). The acceptance rates for COVID-19 and influenza vaccines were 29.4% and 30.9%, respectively. Males, respondents with higher educational levels and those with histories of chronic disease had higher rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines are intended to inject microchips into recipients and that the vaccines are related to infertility were found in 27.7% and 23.4% of respondents, respectively. Higher VCBS scores were found among females, respondents with lower educational levels and respondents relying on social media platforms as the main source of information. The high rates of vaccine hesitancy in Jordan and Kuwait, among other Arab countries, are alarming. They could hinder the proper control of COVID-19 in the region. The harmful effect of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy beliefs was manifested in vaccine hesitancy. This may represent a massive obstacle to the successful control of the pandemic. A reliance on social media as the main source of information about COVID-19 vaccines was associated with vaccine hesitancy. This should alert governments, policy makers and the general public to the importance of vigilant fact checking.

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Mistrust in biomedical research and vaccine hesitancy: the forefront challenge in the battle against COVID-19 in Italy

Cited by 377 publications

References 20 publications

A Proactive Approach for Managing COVID-19: The Importance of Understanding the Motivational Roots of Vaccination Hesitancy for SARS-CoV2

A Proactive Approach for Managing COVID-19: The Importance of Understanding the Motivational Roots of Vaccination Hesitancy for SARS-CoV2

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide: a systematic review of vaccine acceptance rates

High Rates of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Its Association with Conspiracy Beliefs: A Study in Jordan and Kuwait among Other Arab Countries

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