Impact of information on intentions to vaccinate in a potential epidemic: Swine-origin Influenza A (H1N1) (original) (raw)
Related papers
2010
Vaccination campaigns to prevent the spread of epidemics are successful only if the targeted populations subscribe to the recommendations of health authorities. However, because compulsory vaccination is hardly conceivable in modern democracies, governments need to convince their populations through efficient and persuasive information campaigns. In the context of the swine-origin A (H1N1) 2009 pandemic, we use an interactive study among the general public in the South of France, with 175 participants, to explore what type of information can induce change in vaccination intentions at both aggregate and individual levels. We find that individual attitudes to vaccination are based on rational appraisal of the situation, and that it is information of a purely scientific nature that has the only significant positive effect on intention to vaccinate.
From mandatory to voluntary vaccination: intention to vaccinate in the case of policy changes
Public Health, 2020
The aim of the study was to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes according to health belief model (HBM) attributes with the intention to vaccinate children in cases of non-mandatory vaccination to support informed decisions in planned revision of our vaccination policy. Study design: This is a cross-sectional study carried out on a random sample of 3,854 women with young children in Slovenia. Methods: The participants' attitudes were grouped within six HBM attributes (perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, clue to action and self-efficacy). Possible associations between the intention to vaccinate children in cases of non-mandatory vaccination and sociodemographic characteristics or attitudinal attributes according to HBM were explored in univariate analyses by calculating odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) estimates. Results: Just more than half (56.2%; 95% CI: 53.8e58.5%) of the women reported on their intention to vaccinate their children in the case of non-mandatory vaccination, and 23.4% (95% CI: 21.4e25.5%) were undecided. There were no significant sociodemographic predictor variables in relation to this intention. Those who perceived higher susceptibility to vaccine-preventable diseases or the benefits of vaccination were more likely to intend to vaccinate in the case of non-mandatory vaccination (OR ¼ 5.70; 95% CI: 4.64e7.00) and (OR ¼ 7.62; 95% CI: 5.96e9.76). Perceived barriers to vaccinate (fear of side-effects or lack of comprehensive information from physicians) and parents not getting enough useful information in general as a clue to action were significant predictors of an intention not to vaccinate. Conclusions: Our results show that a mandatory vaccination policy is an important factor in ensuring high levels of vaccination coverage in Slovenia. In future, more comprehensive communication activities focused on vaccine-preventable diseases and the benefits and safety of vaccination (for the education of parents and their healthcare providers) are needed to diminish the reliance on a mandatory vaccination policy.
Make it or Break it: Vaccination Intention at the Time of Covid-19
2021
This research updates early studies on the intention to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus among a representative sample of adults in 6 European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) and differentiated by groups of “acceptors”, “refusers”, and “ hesitant”. The research relies on a set of traditional logistic and more complex classification techniques such as Neural Networks and Random Forest techniques to determine common predictors of vaccination preferences. The findings highlight that socio-demographics are not a reliable measure of vaccination propensity, after one controls for different risk perceptions, and illustrate the key role of institutional and peer trust for vaccination success. Policymakers must build vaccine promotion techniques differentiated according to “acceptors”, “refusers”, and “ hesitant”, while restoring much larger trust in their actions upfront since the pandemics if one wishes the vaccination coverage to close part of the gap...
Future pandemics and vaccination: Public opinion and attitudes across three European countries
Vaccine, 2015
Background: Understanding public opinion and attitudes regarding vaccination is crucial for successful outbreak management and effective communication at the European level. Methods: We explored national differences by conducting focus group discussions in The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. Discussions were structured using concepts from behavioural models. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that participants would base their vaccination decision on tradeoffs between perceived benefits and barriers of the vaccine also taking into account the seriousness of the new outbreak. Except for those having chronic diseases, participants expected a low infection risk, resulting in a low willingness to get vaccinated. Information about the health status of cases was considered important since this might change perceived susceptibility. Participants displayed concerns about vaccine safety due to the limited available time to produce and test vaccines in the acute situation of a new pandemic. Swedish participants mentioned their tendency of doing the right thing and following the rules, as well as to get vaccinated because of solidarity with other citizens and social influences. This appeared much less prominent for the Dutch and Polish participants. However, Swedish participants indicated that their negative experiences during the Influenza A/H1N1 2009 pandemic decreases their acceptance of future vaccinations. Polish participants lacked trust in their national (public) health system and government, and were therefore sceptical about the availability and quality of vaccines in Poland. Conclusions: Although participants overall expressed similar considerations, important differences between countries stand out, such as previous vaccination experiences, the degree of adherence to social norms, and the degree of trust in health authorities.
Attitudes to vaccination: A critical review
Social Science & Medicine, 2014
This paper provides a consolidated overview of public and healthcare professionals' attitudes towards vaccination in Europe by bringing together for the first time evidence across various vaccines, countries and populations. The paper relies on an extensive review of empirical literature published in English after 2009, as well as an analysis of unpublished market research data from member companies of Vaccines Europe. Our synthesis suggests that hesitant attitudes to vaccination are prevalent and may be increasing since the influenza pandemic of 2009. We define hesitancy as an expression of concern or doubt about the value or safety of vaccination. This means that hesitant attitudes are not confined only to those who refuse vaccination or those who encourage others to refuse vaccination. For many people, vaccination attitudes are shaped not just by healthcare professionals but also by an array of other information sources, including online and social media sources. We find that healthcare professionals report increasing challenges to building a trustful relationship with patients, through which they might otherwise allay concerns and reassure hesitant patients. We also find a range of reasons for vaccination attitudes, only some of which can be characterised as being related to lack of awareness or misinformation. Reasons that relate to issues of mistrust are cited more commonly in the literature than reasons that relate to information deficit. The importance of trust in the institutions involved with vaccination is discussed in terms of implications for researchers and policy-makers; we suggest that rebuilding this trust is a multi-stakeholder problem requiring a co-ordinated strategy.
1 What Beliefs are Associated with COVID Vaccination Intentions? Implications for Campaign Planning
2020
COVID vaccination intentions vary among the US population. We report the results of a nationally representative survey undertaken in July 2020 (N=889) that examined the association of six vaccine-specific beliefs with intentions to vaccinate. We find that four of the six beliefs have substantial associations with intention (Gammas between .60 and .77), that the associations mostly do not vary with gender, age, race/ethnicity, or misinformation (even though intentions do vary with each of those variables). Also, once adjusted for the vaccine-specific beliefs, level of misinformation is not related to intentions. We consider the implications of these results and argue both that persuasive campaigns can be informed by these specific results, and given rapid changes in vaccine availability, that there is a substantial need for elaborated and repeated follow-up studies.
Popular Attitudes Toward the Distribution of Vaccines Against COVID‐19: The Swiss Case
Swiss Political Science Review, 2021
With the arrival of vaccines against the novel coronavirus in late 2020, the issue of how vaccines should be distributed and which groups should be prioritized has become salient. We study popular attitudes toward the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and how these have changed over the course of the pandemic in Switzerland, drawing on data from two rounds of an original public opinion survey conducted in the spring and winter of 2020. We find that the public supports prioritizing vulnerable groups such as health care workers or the elderly. We also find a notable degree of cross-generational solidarity: younger age cohorts prioritize the elderly, while older groups prioritize (typically younger) health care workers. We then examine whether this finding is not in fact driven by vaccine hesitancy. This is not the case for older age groups, whose solidarity thus seems to be genuine. Vaccine hesitancy is an issue among younger groups, however. Zusammenfassung: Nachdem seit Ende 2020 Impfstoffe gegen das neuartige Coronavirus verf€ ugbar sind, stellt sich die Frage, wie diese verteilt und welche Gruppen dabei priorisiert werden sollten. Wir untersuchen anhand neuer Umfragedaten vom Fr€ uhjahr und Winter 2020 die Einstellungen der Schweizer Bev€ olkerung zur Verteilung der COVID-Impfstoffe. Wir zeigen, dass die Schweizer Bev€ olkerung eine Priorisierung von gef€ ahrdeten Gruppen (bspw. Gesundheitspersonal oder chronisch Kranke) bei der Verteilung von COVID-Impfstoffen klar unterst€ utzt. Ausserdem finden wir eine auffallende Solidarit€ at zwischen den Generationen: J€ ungere Altersgruppen lassen den € Alteren den Vortritt, w€ ahrend gleichzeitig die € Alteren das (normalerweise j€ ungere) Gesundheitspersonal priorisieren. Wir k€ onnen dabei ausschliessen, dass die Solidarit€ at der € Alteren mit dem Gesundheitspersonal in Wahrheit von Impfskepsis getrieben ist. Bedenken € uber die Sicherheit von Impfungen sind dagegen bei den j€ ungeren Altersgruppen eher ausschlaggebend. R esum e: Avec l'arriv ee des vaccins contre le nouveau coronavirus a la fin de l'ann ee 2020, la question est de savoir comment ils devraientêtre distribu es et quels groupes devraientêtre prioritaires. En nous appuyant sur de nouvelles donn ees, nous etudions les attitudes concernant la distribution des vaccins dans la population suisse. Nos donn ees montrent un soutien clair en faveur de la priorit e accord ee aux groupes vuln erables tels que le personnel soignant ou les personneŝ ag ees. Nous constatons egalement un degr e notable de solidarit e interg en erationnelle : les groupes d'âge les plus jeunes donnent la priorit e aux plusâg es, tandis que les plusâg es donnent la priorit e aux travailleurs de la sant e. Nous pouvons egalement exclure la possibilit e que la solidarit e des personnesâg ees avec les travailleurs de la sant e soit en fait motiv ee par un scepticisme visa -vis de la vaccination.
PloS one, 2010
In France, there was a reluctance to accept vaccination against the A/H1N1 pandemic influenza virus despite government recommendation and investment in the vaccine programme. We examined the willingness of different populations to accept A/H1N1 vaccination (i) in a French hospital among 3315 employees immunized either by in-house medical personnel or mobile teams of MDs and (ii) in a shelter housing 250 homeless persons. Google was used to assess the volume of enquiries concerning incidence of influenza. We analyzed the information on vaccination provided by Google, the website of the major French newspapers, and PubMed. Two trust Surveys were used to assess public opinion on the trustworthiness of people in different professions. Paramedics were significantly more reluctant to accept immunisation than qualified medical staff. Acceptance was significantly increased when recommended directly by MDs. Anecdotal cases of directly observed severe infections were followed by enhanced acce...
Major motives in non-acceptance of A/H1N1 flu vaccination: The weight of rational assessment
Vaccine, 2011
Recent efforts of health authorities to promote vaccination against influenza A/H1N1 were met with low compliance rates in most industrialized countries. Here we analyzed the attitudes of the Israeli public towards A/H1N1 vaccination based on a telephone survey conducted several months after the peak of the outbreak. The findings attest to the low uptake of the A/H1N1 vaccine (17%) in Israel, and identify the socio-demographic characteristics associated with non-compliance. In addition, the survey reveals passiveness, fear and distrust as motives leading to non-compliance. Most importantly, the study identified the substantial weight of reflective assessment in the attitude of lay individuals towards the A/H1N1 vaccine. As many as 30% of the non-vaccinated responders provided reasoned arguments for rejecting the vaccine, based mainly on assessment of threat versus actual risk. These observations highlight the need to consider the opinion of the lay public when implementing new vaccination programs.
Vaccines
This study verifies whether there is a strong correlation between the pro-vaccination, against COVID-19 attitude of the respondents and their belief that most of those around them want to be vaccinated against COVID-19. For this purpose, we analyzed data from a sociological survey conducted in April 2021 in Romania. The sample size was of 1001 respondents, the selection process was randomized and the population included in the sample is representative of the socio-demographic structure of Romania. The tool used to collect the data was CATI (telephonic interview). In order to test the existence of these correlations we performed the following tests: Chi-Square test, Kendall τ, Spearman ρ tests and Freeman’s z-test. The pro-vaccination attitude strongly correlates with the perception of subjects that their primary group accepts vaccination and even correlates with the perception that the general public is rather pro-vaccination. The vaccination decision is closely linked to the social...