Attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine uptake intent in China: The role of collectivism, interpersonal communication, and the use of news and information websites

Abstract

Vaccines can be an effective way to help prevent COVID-19 infections. However, in the age of “infodemic" and people holding different values, promoting COVID-related prevention can be difficult. Based on a survey of 460 Chinese residents in March 2021, the present analysis aims to provide a detailed understanding of the role of values and information sources on the Chinese's attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and their vaccination intent. Results revealed that collectivism and the use of mainstream websites were positively associated with value-expressive attitudes, trust toward vaccines, and norms, which in turn predicted vaccination intent. Furthermore, collectivism was negatively associated with attitudes toward inconvenience or minor side effects, whereas interpersonal communication was positively associated with such attitudes. Overall, collectivism appeared to be a much stronger predictor of the Chinese's vaccination intent than the media and interpersonal communication. Although this research was conducted in China, where the pace of mass vaccination was fast, the results can provide insights on what might contribute to the success or failure of a vaccination campaign and be used to compare COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in other countries.