Assessing Attitude Toward COVID-19 Vaccination in South Korea.

Shiva Raj Acharya,Deog Hwan Moon,Yong Chul Shin

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694151

Shiva Raj Acharya, Deog Hwan Moon + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694151

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Journal: Frontier in Psychology	Publication Date: Jul 28, 2021
Citations: 14	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Inje University

Abstract

Vaccines are the most effective strategy to safeguard against COVID−19 and it is crucial to assess community acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. This exploratory study aimed to assess the attitude of immigrants toward the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in South Korea. A web-based anonymous study was completed by 463 immigrants. The data were statistically analyzed using a logistic regression model and ANOVA test. On a scale of 0–6, the average attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccination was 4.17 ± 1.73, indicating generally positive attitudes. The proportion of the immigrants who were certain to get COVID-19 vaccination was 55.3%. Only 36.7% reported that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Of the immigrants, 72.6% showed high acceptance and 27.4% low acceptance toward the COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine safety concern was the major predictor for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Up-to-date, valid information on COVID-19 vaccine safety, and vaccine risk communication strategies are required to increase vaccine acceptability.

Highlights

Vaccines are the most effective strategy to protect the population from COVID−19
About a third (36.7%) of participants indicated that a vaccine developed during an epidemic/pandemic situation could not be considered guaranteed and reported that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe
7.8% disagreed with the statement that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe

Summary

Introduction

It is critical to assess community acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination since COVID-19 vaccination has started globally (Islam et al, 2021). The general public are uncertain of the current vaccine’s acceptance (Mannan and Farhana, 2020; Machida et al, 2021). Immigrants are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection due to factors such as ongoing stigma and discrimination, economic disenfranchisement, and barriers to public health care. Limited studies have looked at individual vaccine uptake results by minorities including associated factors with any differences in vaccine acceptance (Caserotti et al, 1982; Mannan and Farhana, 2020; Islam et al, 2021; Thomas et al, 2021)

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