Psychological factors underpinning vaccine willingness in Israel, Japan and Hungary

Abstract

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 led to rapid vaccine development. However, there remains considerable vaccine hesitancy in some countries. We investigate vaccine willingness in three nations with very different vaccine histories: Israel, Japan and Hungary. Employing an ecological-systems approach we analyse associations between health status, individual cognitions, norms, trust in government, COVID-19 myths and willingness to be vaccinated, with data from three nationally representative samples (Israel, Jan. 2021, N = 1011; Japan, Feb. 2021, N = 997; Hungary, April 2021, N = 1130). Vaccine willingness was higher in Israel (74%) than Japan (51%) or Hungary (31%). In all three countries vaccine willingness was greatest amongst who would regret not being vaccinated and respondents who trusted their government. Multi-group latent class analysis identified three groups of COVID myths, with particular concern about alteration of DNA (Israel), allergies (Hungary) and infection from the vaccine (Japan). Intervention campaigns should address such cultural myths while emphasising both individual and social benefits of vaccination.

Determinants of the Hesitancy toward COVID-19 Vaccination in Eastern European Countries and the Relationship with Health and Vaccine Literacy: A Literature Review

“…Unfortunately, fear of unknown long-term side effects (Poland—41.1% of the respondents [ 30 ]), side effects (Russia—59.8% [ 31 ]; Poland—48.4% [ 30 ]; Czech Republic [ 32 ]), and anaphylaxis or other serious allergic reaction (Poland—33.2% [ 30 ]) due to insufficient and inappropriate scientific studies (Poland—[ 33 ]) and concerns about the effectiveness or safety (Russia—61.5% [ 31 ]; Romania—40% [ 34 , 35 ]; Czech Republic [ 32 ]) of the COVID-19 vaccine [ 19 ] threatened the “safety” level from Maslow’s pyramid [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Which hospital workers do (not) want the jab? Behavioral correlates of COVID-19 vaccine willingness among employees of Swiss hospitals

“…Secondly, while our results can inform messaging techniques, we are not testing the impact of any particular messaging approach per se. Thirdly, while our study design includes a wide range of potential reasons for vaccine willingness, the list could be expanded even further to include, for example, measures of cultural myths [ 76 ] and beliefs about the safety [ 77 ] and provenience of the vaccine [ 78 ].…”

Factors associated with reversals of COVID-19 vaccination willingness: Results from two longitudinal, national surveys in Japan 2021-2022

“…Multi-country surveys have shown wide country-tocountry variation in vaccine acceptance (31-89%). 6,7 Systematic reviews of vaccine intention have found that various socioeconomic variables such as gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and place of residence are associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. 8,9 Prior influenza vaccine history, trust in governmental institutions, compliance with subjective norms, and other behaviors and psychologic dispositions have also been shown to be associated with vaccine intention.…”

“…8,9 Prior influenza vaccine history, trust in governmental institutions, compliance with subjective norms, and other behaviors and psychologic dispositions have also been shown to be associated with vaccine intention. 7,10,11 Concerningly, the rate of vaccine hesitancy seems to have increased as the pandemic has progressed. 9 A multi-country analysis of vaccine confidence in 149 countries ranked Japan as among the countries with the lowest vaccine confidence in the world.…”