The prevalence and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the age of infodemic

Abstract

Background Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication and media environments are potential drivers of vaccine hesitancy. It is worthwhile to examine the relationship between social media use and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Objective This study aims to understand the prevalence and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Methods Questionnaires were administered to 463 participants in mainland China. Factor analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression models were utilized to examine the prevalence and influencing factors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in China, as well as the relationship between social media use, media trust, health information literacy, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Results Lack of confidence and risk were identified as factors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Age, occupation status and income levels were significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. In addition, we observed that frequency of social media use, diversity of social media use, media trust and health information literacy were significantly correlated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion Increased frequency and diversity of social media use, media trust and health information literacy can mitigate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and promote COVID-19 vaccination.

Perception towards vaccine effectiveness in controlling COVID-19 spread in rural and urban communities: A global survey

“…This probably could reflect the trust of the elderly in biased, inappropriate, and fake information available on online platforms. In fact, the recent study also confirmed that people's vaccine acceptance or hesitancy was highly influenced by the information distributed in social media ( 24 , 28 ).…”

“…The vaccination is the most appropriate approach for preventing and spreading COVID-19. However, peoples' perceptions toward vaccine effectiveness have fluctuated with the information flow on various social media channels and the severity of COVID cases ( 24 , 25 ). Therefore, it is important that the current scenario of peoples' perception toward vaccine effectiveness and determinants affecting the same be explored to promote the vaccination approach against COVID-19 prevention and transmission effectively.…”

Implications for COVID-19 vaccine uptake: A systematic review

“…For both time periods, 17 studies that compared women vs. men reported that men were more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine [41] , [43] , [46] , [47] , [52] , [56] , [61] , [62] , [65] , [72] , [74] , [75] , [76] , [81] , [83] , [85] , [88] ; however, in four studies, women were more likely to accept the COVID-19 vaccine [39] , [75] , [86] , [93] . Older age was associated with increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake compared to younger age [35] , [38] , [50] , [52] , [53] , [57] , [64] , [74] , [75] , [76] , [85] , [86] , [90] , [92] , [95] , [100] , and this result was stable across the time periods, with six studies reporting higher uptake in younger age groups [39] , [43] , [47] , [62] , [65] , [94] . Across both periods, 18 studies found that education levels correlated positively with COVID-19 vaccine uptake [35] , [46] , [49] , [52] , [53] , [57] , [59] , [60] , [63] , [67] , [68] , [74] , [76] , [85] , [88] , [90] , …”

Decisions to Choose COVID-19 Vaccination by Health Care Workers in a Southern California Safety Net Medical Center Vary by Sociodemographic Factors

“…Vaccine-refusing HCWs with less than a college degree reported that their decision to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine was motivated by their social media network, which was different from vaccine refusers with a college degree or higher. Previous research documented a link between social media and greater vaccine hesitancy [65][66][67], but it is unknown how educational level affects the relationship between social media networks and vaccine hesitancy in HCWs.…”