Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is spreading globally at an unprecedented rate. To protect the world against this devastating catastrophe, vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 have been produced following consistent clinical trials. However, the durability of a protective immune response due to vaccination has not been confirmed. Moreover, COVID-19 vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is not 100% guaranteed, as new variants arise due to mutations. Consequently, health officials are pleading with the public to take extra precautions against the virus and continue wearing masks, wash hands, and observe physical distancing even after vaccination. The current research collected data from 4,540 participants (1,825 vaccinated and 2,715 not vaccinated) in China to analyze this phenomenon empirically. The propensity score matching (PSM) model is employed to analyze the impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on participants' attitudes toward protective countermeasures. The findings showed that gender, age, education level, occupation risk, individual health risk perception, public health risk perception, social responsibility, peer effect, and government supervision are the main drivers for participants to be vaccinated with COVID-19's vaccines. The results further show that vaccination lessened participants' frequency of hand washing by 1.75 times and their compliance frequency intensity of observing physical distancing by 1.24 times. However, the rate of mask-wearing did not reduce significantly, implying that China's main countermeasure of effective mask-wearing effectively controls COVID-19. Moreover, the findings indicate that a reduction in the frequency of hand washing and observing physical distance could cause a resurgence of COVID-19. In conclusion, factors leading to the eradication of SARS-CoV-2 from the world are complex to be achieved, so the exploration of COVID-19 vaccination and people's attitude toward protective countermeasures may provide insights for policymakers to encourage vaccinated people to follow protective health measures and help in completely defeating the COVID-19 from the globe.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastating harm worldwide, affecting many industries and resulting in the most severe economic recession since World War II [1, 2]
The findings show that gender, age, education level, occupation risk, individual health risk perception, public health risk perception, social responsibility, peer effect, and government supervision can actively drive participants to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine
Previous studies have reached the opposite conclusion, just as Latkin et al [35] hold that females generally express greater intentions to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine than males. These findings further suggest that vaccination campaigns should consider gender differences in attitudes and acceptance
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastating harm worldwide, affecting many industries and resulting in the most severe economic recession since World War II [1, 2]. According to the statistics released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States (June 5, 2021), the COVID-19 pandemic has infected 170 million people and caused 3.7 million fatalities globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) explained how the COVID-19 new variants mutate and spread rapidly. The swift virus transmission and the accelerated growth in the number of cases compelled the urgent development of an accurate and effective vaccine. Countries worldwide are devoting themselves to develop effective vaccines against COVID-19 to effectively control the pandemic. High anticipations are being placed on protective countermeasures in the fight to control COVID-19 and, in turn, to prevent pandemic-induced fatalities in nations worldwide
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