Enhancing COVID-19 Vaccines Acceptance: Results from a Survey on Vaccine Hesitancy in Northern Italy

Abstract

In March 2021, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic still poses a threat to the global population, and is a public health challenge that needs to be overcome. Now more than ever, action is needed to tackle vaccine hesitancy, especially in light of the availability of effective and safe vaccines. A cross-sectional online survey was carried out on a representative random sample of 1011 citizens from the Emilia-Romagna region, in Italy, in January 2021. The questionnaire collected information on socio-demographics, comorbidities, past vaccination refusal, COVID-19-related experiences, risk perception of infection, and likelihood to accept COVID-19 vaccination. Multiple logistic regression analyses and classification tree analyses were performed to identify significant predictors of vaccine hesitancy and to distinguish groups with different levels of hesitancy. Overall, 31.1% of the sample reported hesitancy. Past vaccination refusal was the key discriminating variable followed by perceived risk of infection. Other significant predictors of hesitancy were: ages between 35 and 54 years, female gender, low educational level, low income, and absence of comorbidities. The most common concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine involved safety (54%) and efficacy (27%). Studying the main determinants of vaccine hesitancy can help with targeting vaccination strategies, in order to gain widespread acceptance—a key path to ensure a rapid way out of the current pandemic emergency.

Determination of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among University Students

“…A finding observed was that not all the questions that loaded onto factor 'Risk Concerns' were significantly dependent on curricula, which is understandable since it is normal for anyone to be worried about potential adverse effects regardless of educational background. Similarly observed by Reno et al [13], despite participants' age, gender, income, socio-economic or educational background, safety concerns were the key reason for hesitancy.…”

Interim Estimates of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness in a Mass Vaccination Setting: Data from an Italian Province

“…In any case, the present results are inevitably preliminary and require confirmation, like those of most previous studies [10][11][12][13][14]. However, interim analyses from real-life mass vaccination campaigns are crucial, and were urgently needed, to reinforce current policies on widespread immunization and hopefully reduce vaccine hesitancy [15].…”

“…After four months of mass vaccination in Italy, given the urgency for more data to support current public health policies and potentially reduce vaccine hesitancy [15], we performed an interim analysis in order to evaluate COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness in the entire population of an Italian Province.…”

Predictors of Intention to Vaccinate against COVID-19 in the General Public in Hong Kong: Findings from a Population-Based, Cross-Sectional Survey

“…The association between perceived susceptibility and vaccination intention has been well documented in the literature [ 25 , 28 , 39 ]. For example, a study in Italy has shown that high self-perceived vulnerability to COVID-19 may lead to more acquiescent behaviours and greater perceived responsibility towards the community in the acceptance of vaccines [ 40 ]. In contrast, perceived severity, another key factor of the HBM, does not seem to be related to individuals’ intention to vaccinate.…”

“…Novel to this study is that we also examined individuals’ experience of other pandemics and its association with intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Past experiences of vaccination have often been shown to be predictive of current vaccination intention [ 40 ]. However, whether past experiences of other pandemics (e.g., Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, Swine Flu or H1N1) in general could predict intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines was unclear.…”