Predictors of Vaccine Acceptance, Confidence, and Hesitancy in General, and COVID-19 Vaccination Refusal in the Province of Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Introduction A surge of COVID-19 variants is a major concern, and literatures that support developing an optimum level of herd immunity are meaningful. This study aimed to examine the factors associated with vaccine acceptance, confidence, and hesitancy in general, and COVID-19 vaccination refusal in the general population of Quebec, Canada. Methods A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in October and November 2020 among French-speaking participants above 18 years of age employing quota sampling technique. The questionnaire included socio-demographic and attitudinal variables towards vaccination. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between independent and outcome variables. Results Of total 1599 participants, 88.9%, 87.5%, 78.5%, and 18.2%, respectively, indicated vaccine acceptance, high level of vaccine confidence, low level of vaccine hesitancy, and COVID-19 vaccination refusals. Participants having higher education, income, and fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) were more likely to get vaccinated, while smokers were less likely to get vaccinated. Similarly, age groups (40–59, and ≥60 years), higher education, income, permanent resident in Canada, country of parents from Canada, ever faced acute disease in the family, higher sense of coherence, and FCV-19S scores were predictors of high levels of vaccine confidence. Higher education, income, sense of coherence and FCV-19S scores, and higher health-related quality of life (CORE-6D) produced lower levels of vaccine hesitancy. Conversely, those acting as caretaker, other essential worker, smoker, and those with financial losses were more likely to have higher vaccine hesitancy. Additionally, ≥60 years of age, higher education and income, country of parents from Canada, higher scores of willingness to take risk and FCV-19S were less likely to have high level of COVID-19 vaccination refusal. Conclusion Over three quarters of the participants indicated positive attitudes toward vaccination. Some socio-demographic and health-related quality of life factors were associated with the outcome variables, and these should be sought while designing interventions to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Confidence in COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and safety and its effect on vaccine uptake in Tanzania: A community-based cross-sectional study

“…Males had higher odds of having COVID-19 vaccine confidence than women. Similar findings were reported in a study done in Canada 17 and by Roy Rillera. 18 Females were less likely to have confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines because one of the misinformation in social media was the effect of the vaccine on fertility issues.…”

“…While our study used the perception of COVID-19 effectiveness and safety as our composite measure of confidence, some included the importance and trust of the doctor’s recommendation apart from safety and effectiveness. 17 , 18 Further, variation in the composition of socio-demographic characteristics may explain the lower levels of COVID-19 confidence in our study. Other studies were composed of a higher proportion of people with older age (mean of 50 years or higher) compared to participants in our study.…”

“… 15 Also, in a Canadian study, those who had a fear of the COVID-19 disease had 11% increased chances of having confidence in the COVID-19 disease. 17 Similarly, a qualitative study done among health care workers by Tibbels et al 21 found that the high risk-perception increased their confidence in the vaccines’ effectiveness. These findings echo the results from our study whereby, community members perceiving themselves as at risk had 53% increased levels of COVID-19 vaccine confidence.…”

Which factors drive the choice of the French‐speaking Quebec population towards a COVID‐19 vaccination programme: A discrete‐choice experiment

“…Individuals' characteristics (invariant within individuals) considered were age, gender (male), educational level (no university degree), annual income (less than 85,000 CAD) and Fear‐of‐COVID19 Scale (score equal to 24 or less over 35). All were found to be good predictors of vaccine acceptance in Quebec at the beginning of the pandemic 22,59 . Indeed, females and older individuals, with higher levels of education, a high income and strong fear of COVID‐19 were more likely to trust and accept the COVID‐19 vaccine.…”

“…All were found to be good predictors of vaccine acceptance in Quebec at the beginning of the pandemic. 22,59 Indeed, females and older individuals, with higher levels of education, a high income and strong fear of COVID-19 were more likely to trust and accept the COVID-19 vaccine.…”