The COVID-19 Vaccine: Trust, doubt, and hope for a future beyond the pandemic in Germany

Abstract

Public perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines are critical in reaching protective levels of herd immunity. Vaccine skepticism has always been relatively high in Germany, and surveys suggest that over the course of the pandemic, enthusiasm for the COVID-19 vaccine has dropped. Looking at the period just prior to the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in Germany in the latter half of 2020, this paper aims to assess the reasons for and against COVID-19 vaccine uptake among residents of Germany, and to provide in-depth qualitative data to better understand and address concerns surrounding the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine. Our findings indicate that there is widespread trust in German institutions and health experts to provide a safe vaccine for those who need it most. However, interviewees also point to the need for more information and the centrality of support from trusted medical authorities in making individual vaccination decisions. We also present the complexity of individual positions on vaccination, and suggest that vaccine hesitancy in relation to COVID-19 needs to be understood as a nuanced, and socially malleable, territory. This indicates that the goal of a vaccination campaign is not only achieving ‘herd immunity,’ but also a social endorsement of the collaborative effort that is required for a vaccine to be successful.

Deliberation, context, emotion and trust – understanding the dynamics of adults’ COVID-19 vaccination decisions in Germany

“…Extensive quantitative efforts undertaken globally have aimed to determine the breadth of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in several settings [ 21 ]. With notable exceptions [ 13 , 22 , 23 ] and one qualitative study from the German context [ 24 ], there is relatively less qualitative scholarship giving voice to individual perceptions of vaccines and intentions for vaccination uptake. Qualitative research captures person-centered views and lived experiences, which in turn can allow scholars and practitioners to identify insightful considerations in dynamic and evolving contexts [ 25 ].…”

The social and socio-political embeddedness of COVID-19 vaccination decision-making: A five-country qualitative interview study from Europe

“…Fourth, concerns about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine are particularly pronounced in COVID-19 vaccination practices, partly, as we found earlier [28] , [12] , due to the expedited vaccine development process [23] , [1] , [6] ; Latkin et al, 2021; [26] , [3] and the amplification of existing concerns during the pandemic (Rhuginis et al 2022).…”

“…A second group of participants pointed to a shift in the perception of COVID-19 vaccination over time. While initially hesitant or even skeptical in their accounts [12] , they eventually chose to get vaccinated. Our data points to a range of interrelated drivers for this dynamic: First, initial safety concerns were outweighed by fears of long-term health complications arising from COVID-19 infections, as an Austrian participant explained: [...] I have my brother-in-law, who is a doctor, and he has informed me in detail, he knows a lot about it [vaccination].…”

COVID-19 vaccination status in Germany: Factors and reasons for not being vaccinated (yet)

“…Doing so increases the adherence to medical recommendations [e.g., ( 61 )]. Conversations with the general practitioner, called “second-tier” or informal support, are essential to making an informed decision about whether to get vaccinated ( 62 ) and are thus an effective element in increasing the vaccination rate against COVID-19. According to Bartoš et al ( 63 ), while ~90% of medical doctors trust COVID-19 vaccines, most respondents from the general public believe that only half of the doctors trust the vaccines.…”