Vaccine Hesitancy during the Coronavirus Pandemic in South Tyrol, Italy: Linguistic Correlates in a Representative Cross-Sectional Survey (original) (raw)
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Many countries were and are still struggling with the COVID-19 emergency. Despite efforts to limit the viral transmission, the vaccine is the only solution to ending the pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy could reduce coverage and hinder herd immunity. Objective: People's intention to get vaccinated can be shaped by several factors, including risk perception which, in turn, is influenced by affect. The present work aimed at investigating how risk perception and some factors associated with the decision to comply with vaccination modulated vaccine acceptance for COVID-19 as compared to seasonal influenza, and how these have varied during the lockdown phases. Method: The study followed the main phases of the emergency in Italy, investigating the intention to get vaccinated against flu and against SARS-CoV-2 (if a vaccine was available) before, during and after the first national lockdown, covering the period from the end of February to the end of June 2020. We investigated the effect of risk perception and other predictors on the decision of getting vaccinated. Results: Compared to the pre-lockdown phase, during the lockdown more people were willing to get vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of their beliefs about vaccines, and as risk perception increased, so did the intention to accept the vaccine. The acceptance of the flu vaccine increased after the reopening phase. In addition, the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and against flu increased if there was previous flu vaccination behavior but decreased with increasing doubts about the vaccines in general. Conclusions: The observation of vaccination intentions across the three main phases of the emergency allows important considerations regarding psychological, affect, and demographic determinants useful to tailor public health communication to improve public response to future epidemics.
Laricchia is a data analyst who completed her MA degree Translation and Culture at UCL (2021) focusing on crisis translation and translation technologies. Michela Di Cosimo is a translator who completed her MSc in Specialised Translation at UCL (2020), focusing on crisis translation in healthcare contexts. 1 This report adopts the term 'migrant' for ease of readability. The term is more appropriate than foreign nationals, as the team conducted interviews with migrant communities, excluding foreign tourists, business travellers, or high-earning foreign residents in Italy. The report uses the term 'migrants' but never considers them as a homogenous group. The term does not neutralise the extreme diversity among social and economic migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, temporarily displaced people, or stateless people. In the analysis of interviews, when it is relevant to do so, the report specifies the group to which the emerging information pertains. 2 Eurostat (2022), 'Migration and migrant population statistics'. 3 WHO. (2017), Communicating Risk in Public Health Emergencies. A WHO Guideline for Emergency Risk Communication (ERC) policy and practice. Geneva: World Health Organization 4 ECDC (2021), Reducing COVID-19 Transmission and Strengthening Vaccine Uptake Among Migrant Populations in the EU/EEA-3 June 2021. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, p.10. COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Among Migrants in Rome and the Emilia-Romagna Region mediators. The researchers analysed language access policies, and evaluated quantitative data on migrants' preferred languages, as distributed in Rome and the Emilia-Romagna Region. Information about language distribution was necessary to compare and contrast local language needs, provision, and budgeting issues with the language mediation. 5 Rome and the Emilia Romagna region host similar numbers of migrant residents; their migrant population combined adds up to over 1 million and represents 20% of the national total. The STRIVE team was able to evaluate and compare approaches in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas, which have shown different levels of testing, infection, and vaccine hesitancy. 6 Key findings 1. Rather than vaccine hesitancy, unequal access to healthcare information in a language that migrants could understand magnified existing health inequalities among migrant communities in Rome and the Emilia-Romagna region, according to interviews with frontline intercultural mediators. 9 WHO (2017), 'Human Rights and Health. World Health Organization'. 10 Eurostat (2022), 'Migration and migrant population statistics'. 11 ISTAT (2022), 'Stranieri residenti al 1° gennaio'. 12 Cf. several studies focused on indicators about hospitalisation, intensive care, and mortality by country, e.g., for Italy (Di Napoli et al., 2022), for the UK (
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Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2022
COVID-19 vaccines are the most promising means of limiting the pandemic. The present study aims at determining the roles of several psychological variables in predicting vaccination intention in Italy. An online questionnaire was disseminated between 9 March and 9 May 2021. The sample included 971 participants. Results showed that most of the participants were willing to vaccinate. Acceptance rates were correlated with age, marital status, and area of residence. Intention to be vaccinated was positively correlated with perceived risk, pro-sociality, fear of COVID-19, use of preventive behaviors, and trust in government, in science, and in medical professionals. Intention to be vaccinated was negatively associated with belief in misinformation. The degree of acceptance is likely to be a result of the campaign tailored to address people’s negative attitudes towards vaccines. Trust in government and trust in science were among the strongest psychological predictors of vaccination inten...
Frontiers in Public Health, 2022
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