Political Ideologies, Government Trust, and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the correlation between political ideologies, government trust, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among South Korea’s general population and 1000 respondents (aged 18 years and older) were included. We used multivariate logistic regression models to identify the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Respondents who self-identified as liberal or held “no political opinion” had higher rates of vaccine hesitancy than conservative respondents. People’s trust in the government’s countermeasures was associated with vaccination. Respondents who had risk perceptions (affective and cognitive) of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccine hesitancy. Perceptions that the vaccine was not safe and being aged 18–29, 30–39, or 40–49 were associated with a higher probability of vaccine hesitancy. This study found that even if vaccine safety and risk perceptions toward COVID-19 were adjusted, self-rated political ideologies and government trust was associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. More effort to communicate with those who are conservative, younger, and have lower level of trust in the government are required to dissolve vaccine hesitancy. Further studies should analyze the mechanism of COVID-19 vaccine uptake for effective herd immunity.

Acculturation, trust to health care system, and attitudes to COVID-19 vaccination: A comparative study between Polish immigrants in Norway, Polish in Poland, and Norwegians in Norway

“…Several studies conducted in different countries have demonstrated that trust in the vaccine and in governmental health authorities are strongly related to acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination ( Ebrahimi, et al, 2021 ; Jennings, et al, 2021 ; Konstantinou, et al, 2021 ; Lamot, Krecic, & Kirbiš, 2021 ; Park, Ham, Jang, Lee, & Jang, 2021 ; Szilagyi, et al, 2021 ). These studies show that trust in the safety and effectiveness and the importance of getting vaccinated reflect trust in the authorities.…”

To Be (Vaccinated) or Not to Be: The Effect of Media Exposure, Institutional Trust, and Incentives on Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccination

“…Furthermore, studies on institutional trust claim that media exposure is related to institutional trust since most of the information about the past behavior of governmental institutions originates from media sources [ 44 ]. Moreover, research on exposure to vaccine-related information reveals that while trust in information about the vaccine is positively related to attitudes and behaviors, it is not enough when associated institutions are mistrusted [ 45 , 46 ].…”

Understanding the societal factors of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy: evidence from Hong Kong

“… 39 , 40 , 41 This echoes with a recent study from Korea, which shows an inverse relationship between vaccine hesitancy and trust in government's COVID-19 countermeasures. 52 Their measurement of trust was competence based, which is slightly different from ours. Nonetheless, these findings make intuitive sense because trusting public institutions can reduce people's misgivings about the consequences of getting the COVID-19 vaccines under the concerns over them being newly developed, entailing new technologies, and bearing unknown side-effects.…”

“… 39 , 40 , 41 Altogether, our findings reveal that it is not institutional trust or political orientation that makes people accept the vaccine; instead, it is the perception that vaccination is a socially – or politically – sensitive behaviour that matters. Although extant studies have shown political partisanship may affect the intention to receive COVID-19 vaccination, 33 , 34 , 35 , 52 , 53 we urge future studies to account for the sociopolitical meaning of vaccination, especially in highly polarised states. This study also offers a socioecological perspective for studying the antivaccine movement or how people withdraw from vaccination campaign due to bundling of vaccination and political identity.…”