tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Public Health (Oxf)
. 2021 May 5;fdab122.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab122. Online ahead of print.
Correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Austria: trust and the government
Eva Schernhammer[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Jakob Weitzer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Manfred D Laubichler[SUP] 2 4 5 [/SUP], Brenda M Birmann[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Martin Bertau[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Lukas Zenk[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Guido Caniglia[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Carlo C J?ger[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Gerald Steiner[SUP] 2 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic surging and new mutations evolving, trust in vaccines is essential.
Methods: We explored correlates of vaccine hesitancy, considering political believes and psychosocial concepts, conducting a non-probability quota-sampled online survey with 1007 Austrians.
Results: We identified several important correlates of vaccine hesitancy, ranging from demographics to complex factors such as voting behavior or trust in the government. Among those with hesitancy towards a COVID-19 vaccine, having voted for opposition parties (opp) or not voted (novote) were (95% Confidence Intervall (CI)opp, 1.44-2.95) to 2.25-times (95%CInovote, 1.53-3.30) that of having voted for governing parties. Only 46.2% trusted the Austrian government to provide safe vaccines, and 80.7% requested independent scientific evaluations regarding vaccine safety to increase willingness to vaccine.
Conclusions: Contrary to expected, psychosocial dimensions were only weakly correlated with vaccine hesitancy. However, the strong correlation between distrust in the vaccine and distrust in authorities suggests a common cause of disengagement from public discourse.
Keywords: COVID-19; behaviour; communicable diseases; vaccine hesitancy.
. 2021 May 5;fdab122.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab122. Online ahead of print.
Correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Austria: trust and the government
Eva Schernhammer[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Jakob Weitzer[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Manfred D Laubichler[SUP] 2 4 5 [/SUP], Brenda M Birmann[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Martin Bertau[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Lukas Zenk[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Guido Caniglia[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Carlo C J?ger[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Gerald Steiner[SUP] 2 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33948665
- DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab122
Abstract
Background: With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic surging and new mutations evolving, trust in vaccines is essential.
Methods: We explored correlates of vaccine hesitancy, considering political believes and psychosocial concepts, conducting a non-probability quota-sampled online survey with 1007 Austrians.
Results: We identified several important correlates of vaccine hesitancy, ranging from demographics to complex factors such as voting behavior or trust in the government. Among those with hesitancy towards a COVID-19 vaccine, having voted for opposition parties (opp) or not voted (novote) were (95% Confidence Intervall (CI)opp, 1.44-2.95) to 2.25-times (95%CInovote, 1.53-3.30) that of having voted for governing parties. Only 46.2% trusted the Austrian government to provide safe vaccines, and 80.7% requested independent scientific evaluations regarding vaccine safety to increase willingness to vaccine.
Conclusions: Contrary to expected, psychosocial dimensions were only weakly correlated with vaccine hesitancy. However, the strong correlation between distrust in the vaccine and distrust in authorities suggests a common cause of disengagement from public discourse.
Keywords: COVID-19; behaviour; communicable diseases; vaccine hesitancy.