Social Patterning and Stability of Intention to Accept a COVID-19 Vaccine in Scotland: Will Those Most at Risk Accept a Vaccine?

Abstract

Vaccination is central to controlling COVID-19. Its success relies on having safe and effective vaccines and also on high levels of uptake by the public over time. Addressing questions of population-level acceptability, stability of acceptance, and sub-population variation in acceptability are imperative. Using a prospective design, a repeated measures two-wave online survey was conducted to assess key sociodemographic variables and intention to accept a COVID-19 vaccine. The first survey (Time 1) was completed by 3436 people during the period of national lockdown in Scotland and the second survey (n = 2016) was completed two months later (Time 2) when restrictions had been eased. In the first survey, 74% reported being willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Logistic regression analyses showed that there were clear sociodemographic differences in intention to accept a vaccine for COVID-19 with intention being higher in participants of white ethnicity as compared with Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, and in those with higher income levels and higher education levels. Intention was also higher in those who had “shielding” status due to underlying medical conditions. Our results suggest that future interventions, such as mass media and social marketing, need to be targeted at a range of sub-populations and diverse communities.

Comparison of Vaccine Acceptance Between COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza Among Women in China: A National Online Survey Based on Health Belief Model

“…Our findings revealed several factors that had a significant impact on reproductive women's COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, including regions and educational level. History of influenza vaccination was additionally associated with influenza vaccine acceptance, which was generally consistent with the results of previous studies (37)(38)(39). A national survey carried out among women in France found that influenza vaccine uptake was associated with high educational level (37).…”

“…A national survey carried out among women in France found that influenza vaccine uptake was associated with high educational level (37). In Scotland, Williams and his colleagues discovered that people with higher educational levels have higher intentions of accepting COVID-19 vaccine (38). High education level may lead to a better knowledge of diseases and vaccine and may relate to a lower probability to believe in conspiracies and fake news, thus raising women's awareness of the necessity of receiving vaccination and resulting in higher vaccination acceptance.…”

Pre-pandemic cognitive function and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: cohort study

“…These effects were apparent across the full range of cognition scores. That we were able to replicate known predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy – being female,( Detoc et al, 2020 , Freeman et al, 2020 , Wang et al, 2020 ) younger,( Detoc et al, 2020 , Freeman et al, 2020 ) non-white ethnicity,( Freeman et al, 2020 , Robertson et al, 2021 , Williams et al, 2021 ) and having a lower prevalence of physical morbidity( Ruiz and Bell, 2021 ) – gives us some confidence in our novel results for cognitive function.…”

Role of Information Technology in COVID-19 Vaccination Drive: An Analysis of the COVID-19 Global Beliefs, Behaviors, and Norms Survey

“…COVID-19 virus has the potential to harm us as we are constantly exposed to the virus while visiting public places like restaurants, retail stores, businesses, places of worship, public parks and gardens, and places of work. Exposure to the virus can trigger our immune system to react to the virus as it has high negative outcomes toward our body, which has led to intense research and human clinical studies about effective COVID-19 vaccination [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”

“…The primary goal of vaccination trials is to make sure that the subsequent SARS-nCoV-2 infection risk remains low and the vaccine is safe to administer. The vaccine trial shows that it is efficient in neutralizing the virus with the enhancement of the antibodies [25][26][27][28][29]. In the survey study, the respondents were shown how previous participants have answered survey questions in their country regarding behavioral perception about COVID-19 pandemic; vaccination drive; social distancing; preventive measures like wearing masks, hand washing, using sanitizers, etc.…”