COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in an urban Chinese population of Hong Kong: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy against COVID-19 is prevalent. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination compliance among adults in Hong Kong. An online survey was conducted during an early stage of community-based COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Hong Kong. The questionnaire consisted of vaccine status, sociodemographic information, risk perception of being infected by COVID-19, and exposure to confirmed COVID cases, as well as items on sleep and mental health. The association between these variables and vaccine hesitancy was analyzed. Among the 883 participants (67.5% females, 54.5% aged 18–39), 30.6% had low vaccine hesitancy, 27.4% had high vaccine hesitancy, and 27.5% had vaccine rejection. The likelihood of having high vaccine hesitancy was higher among young (adjusted odds ratio [ aOR ] = 2.99; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–7.30) and middle-aged respondents ( aOR = 2.99; 95% CI: 1.07–5.47) than among old respondents. Moreover, those who were married ( aOR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.29–0.88), had a full-time job ( aOR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.29–0.88), and had a greater confidence in the government ( aOR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.54–0.86) were less likely to exhibit vaccine hesitancy. Our findings showed that the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine resistance were high. Policy makers need specific strategies to target those who may have a high risk of vaccine hesitancy and resistance.

Determining the Prevalence and Correlates of COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Hesitancy in the Singapore Population Following the Completion of the Primary Vaccination Series

“…Study findings indicated that generalised anxiety and depressive symptoms, as screened by the GAD-2 and PHQ-2, respectively, had no significant associations with COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy, which were in line with prior studies that employed the same measures to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine intention for the primary series [ 11 , 39 , 40 ]. However, other studies that had used the full measures (GAD-7 and PHQ-9) to investigate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy also failed to find significant associations with generalised anxiety and depression [ 64 , 65 ]. This means that measures that consider the context of COVID-19 are needed to assess anxiety and depressive moods.…”

The privilege of COVID‐19 vaccine wastage ‐ Hong Kong

“…On the other hand, there are factors that positively correlate with vaccine uptake. Confidence in the government [8] among other factors, has been shown to increase acceptance. However, some of these factors may be affected by the local social environment.…”

Identifying the determinants of non-injection of covid-19 vaccine: A qualitative study in Urmia, Iran

“…There are lots of reason to reject, delay, hesitancy and refusal of COVID-19 vaccine: Fear of short or long term applications to health, not considering being in a risk group, pregnancy, risk pregnancy, recent abortion, breastfeeding period ( 25 ), misinformation beliefs ( 26 , 27 ), not having enough vaccine-related information ( 26 – 28 ), concerns over vaccine safety ( 18 , 19 , 26 , 28 , 29 ), structural barriers ( 28 , 30 ), personal experience with the disease ( 31 , 32 ), possible unknown future adverse effects of the vaccine ( 32 , 33 ), social determinants of health ( 23 ), low health literacy ( 23 , 34 ), not trusting the drug companies ( 23 , 27 , 29 ), political ideologies ( 11 , 23 , 35 ), distrust of science and the government ( 19 , 26 , 29 , 33 ). Also, various social media made people hesitate to inject the vaccine by spreading false rumors about the COVID-19 vaccine harms, which could create a major challenge for the health system ( 36 , 37 ).…”