Individual preferences for COVID-19 vaccination in China

Abstract

Background Vaccinations are an effective choice to stop disease outbreaks, including COVID-19. There is little research on individuals' COVID-19 vaccination decision-making. Objective We aimed to determine individual preferences for COVID-19 vaccinations in China, and to assess the factors influencing vaccination decision-making to facilitate vaccination coverage. Methods A D-efficient discrete choice experiment was conducted across six Chinese provinces selected by the stratified random sampling method. Vaccine choice sets were constructed using seven attributes: vaccine effectiveness, side-effects, accessibility, number of doses, vaccination sites, duration of vaccine protection, and proportion of acquaintances vaccinated. Conditional logit and latent class models were used to identify preferences. Results Although all seven attributes were proved to significantly influence respondents’ vaccination decision, vaccine effectiveness, side-effects and proportion of acquaintances vaccinated were the most important. We also found a higher probability of vaccinating when the vaccine was more effective; risks of serious side effects were small; vaccinations were free and voluntary; the fewer the number of doses; the longer the protection duration; and the higher the proportion of acquaintances vaccinated. Higher local vaccine coverage created altruistic herd incentives to vaccinate rather than free-rider problems. The predicted vaccination uptake of the optimal vaccination scenario in our study was 84.77%. Preference heterogeneity was substantial. Individuals who were older, had a lower education level, lower income, higher trust in the vaccine and higher perceived risk of infection, displayed a higher probability to vaccinate. Conclusions Preference heterogeneity among individuals should lead health authorities to address the diversity of expectations about COVID-19 vaccinations. To maximize COVID-19 vaccine uptake, health authorities should promote vaccine effectiveness; pro-actively communicate the absence or presence of vaccine side effects; and ensure rapid and wide media communication about local vaccine coverage.

Acceptance of a COVID-19 Vaccine in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Therefore, interventions targeted at modifying such health beliefs about COVID-19 may lead to improved vaccination rates. The item with the highest OR for vaccine acceptance was 'perceived effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine', as reported in some previous studies [15,17]. Additionally, the item with the second highest OR was 'willingness to protect others by getting oneself vaccinated', which was also reported to be one of the important factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in a previous study [19], and 489 participants had a low level of willingness to protect others by getting oneself vaccinated.…”

“…Studies on vaccine acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine were conducted in various countries [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. In Europe, it has been reported that the prevalence of vaccine acceptability was approximately from 60% to 80% [14,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36].…”

“…Previous studies conducted outside of Japan reported that various factors, such as sociodemographic factors, attitude and beliefs regarding COVID-19 infection and vaccination, and political views, influence decision-making of vaccine acceptance [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Our results show that vaccine acceptance in Japan was lower among several sociodemographic groups, such as women, adults aged 20-49 years, and those with low-income levels, which coincided with many previous studies [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. To increase COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Japan, it may be important to ensure vaccination among these populations with low vaccine acceptance.…”

“…In order to plan adequate COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the general public, understanding the public's concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is essential [12,13]. As with previous studies on vaccine hesitancy for vaccines [13], studies on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance have demonstrated that the acceptability of the vaccine differs depending on sociodemographic factors, such as race and educational level, as well as attitudes and beliefs regarding COVID-19 infection and vaccination [14][15][16][17][18][19]. A global survey, which included 19 countries, also reported that responses in different countries show that COVID-19 vaccine acceptance has high heterogeneity [20]; therefore, it is important to clarify the acceptance of a vaccine in each country or region.…”

COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness among Chinese Adults under the Free Vaccination Policy

“…Their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for COVID-19 vaccines was influenced by social and demographic factors, such as occupation and region. A number of discrete choice experiments revealed that a strong preference for the COVID-19 vaccine depended on its effectiveness, side-effects, protection duration and number of injections [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. However, little is currently known about the effect of free vaccinations on the COVID-19 VWR in China.…”