Cognitive Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Older Adults

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in tremendous loss of life. As of late-July 2021, there have been more than 191 million confirmed cases and over 4.1 million deaths recorded (1). Although most nations have developed some competency in COVID-19 containment (2-4), there are new challenges. The continual spread of COVID-19 has resulted in new variants (5-7). These new variants are posited to have a significantly higher transmissibility (8-10), with higher fatality rates (11,12).With complete eradication of the COVID-19 virus seeming highly unlikely, the shift for healthcare experts is now to reduce this pandemic into a state of mild disease endemicity (13)(14)(15)(16)(17).Vaccines play an essential role in this transition (14,16).Vaccines provide protection in a few crucial ways. In its most effective form, it serves to prevent natural infection; if immunity response following the vaccine does not prevent natural infection, it may still attenuate virus pathology, reducing the infectiousness and/or severity of disease symptoms (18). Only a while ago the world was racing towards developing a vaccine for this devastating disease (19), currently, with vaccines in hand, countries struggle to have significant portions of their population vaccinated (20)(21)(22)(23). In order to achieve herd immunity through vaccines of 95 percent efficacy, calculations suggest about 63-76% of the population would have to be vaccinated (24). This range increases to 84-90% when including a safety margin (24). This safety margin is perhaps needful given a reduced efficacy against new COVID-19 variants observed in emerging reports (25)(26)(27).The COVID-19 virus has been especially dangerous for older adults. Studies have shown the virus causing worse outcomes and having a higher mortality rate among older adults (28,29). This is perhaps unsurprising given the known susceptibility of older adults to other infectious diseases (30,31). Against the backdrop of global ageing trends, this is particularly concerning. The population of individuals aged 65 and over is growing faster than any other age group (32). Globally, there are over 727 million persons aged 65 years and over (33). With a sizable older adult population in many countries, and due to COVID-19's implications on the elderly, countries have consequently prioritised vaccinating older adults (34-36).The collective impact of having substantial older adult populations, the elderly being more vulnerable to COVID-19, and the need to have high percentages of these senior vaccinated, beckons us to consider the barriers to inoculation among the elderly. Emerging research has identified demographic characteristics of older adults hesitant in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. These older adults generally received less years of formal education and had less social contact (37, 38), a pattern also observed among the general population (39, 40). However, beyond demographic characteristics and factors, research on the specific beliefs held by these older adults have been sparse. Cognitive factors su...

Facilitators and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among women in two regions of Ghana: A qualitative study

“…Studies have shown that side effects such as chills, fever, and swelling of lymph are typical of vaccines because an introduction of a foreign substance into the body elicits an immune response [ 47 , 48 ]. However, not all individuals may exhibit these side effects [ 49 ]. In addition, because these sides effects are unpleasant, some individuals may misconstrue them as sickness and perceive the COVID-19 vaccine as disease-causing [ 49 , 50 ].…”

“…However, not all individuals may exhibit these side effects [ 49 ]. In addition, because these sides effects are unpleasant, some individuals may misconstrue them as sickness and perceive the COVID-19 vaccine as disease-causing [ 49 , 50 ]. Therefore, education by public health professionals on the side effects of vaccine uptake and remedies to alleviate these side effects in women can increase their uptake.…”

I Think I Should Get Vaccinated, I Feel I Should Not. Individual Differences in Information Processing and Vaccination Behavior (COVID-19)

“…Third, it is possible that specific beliefs of the population included in the present study might be at play. For instance, perceived health threat severity might be a barrier for vaccine uptake [ 45 ]. This might be especially relevant when discussing COVID-19 vaccination in young adults because the COVID-19 virus has been especially dangerous for older adults [ 45 ].…”

Ready for Vaccination? COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness of Older People in Austria

“…For Austria, the authors are aware of four internationally published papers (32)(33)(34)(35) to date. Surprisingly, only a few studies worldwide explicitly address older people (36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44). Current data availability is likely to play a role here, as the second SHARE Corona Survey data-which includes data on vaccination willingnessfor example, are not yet available for scientific analysis, although initial results have already been published (36).…”

“…Important factors for the willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccination were identified as the individual risk assessment of a COVID-19 infection or illness on one hand (28,29,(37)(38)(39) and past health protection behaviors, such as having gotten an influenza vaccination in the past, on the other hand (28,29,37,40). On a theoretical level, this can be explained by Protection Motivation Theory (47).…”