Factors underlying COVID-19 vaccine and booster hesitancy and refusal, and incentivizing vaccine adoption.
PLoS One
; 17(9): e0274529, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2039419
ABSTRACT
The paper investigates the factors underlying COVID-19 vaccine and booster hesitancy in the United States, and the efficacy of various incentives or disincentives to expand uptake. We use cross-sectional, national survey data on 3,497 U.S. adults collected online from September 10, 2021 to October 20, 2021 through the Qualtrics platform. Results from a multinomial logistic regression reveal that hesitancy and refusal were greatest among those who expressed a lack of trust either in government or in the vaccine's efficacy (hesitancy relative risk ratio, or RRR 2.86, 95% CI 2.13-3.83, p<0.001). Hesitancy and refusal were lowest among those who typically get a flu vaccine (hesitancy RRR 0.28, 95% CI 0.21-0.36, p<0.001; refusal RRR 0.08, 95% CI 0.05-0.13, p<0.001). Similar results hold for the intention to get a booster shot among the fully vaccinated. Monetary rewards (i.e., lottery ticket and gift cards) fared poorly in moving people toward vaccination. In contrast, the prospect of job loss or increased health insurance premiums was found to significantly increase vaccine uptake, by 8.7 percentage points (p<0.001) and 9.4 percentage points (p<0.001), respectively. We also show that the motivations underlying individuals' hesitancy or refusal to get vaccinated vary, which, in turn, suggests that messaging must be refined and directed accordingly. Also, moving forward, it may be fruitful to more deeply study the intriguing possibility that expanding flu vaccine uptake may also enhance willingness to vaccinate in times of pandemics. Last, disincentives such as work-based vaccination mandates that would result in job loss or higher health insurance premiums for those who refuse vaccination should be strongly considered to improve vaccine uptake in the effort to address the common good.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Urination Disorders
/
Urinary Bladder Diseases
/
Influenza Vaccines
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
PLoS One
Journal subject:
Science
/
Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Journal.pone.0274529
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS