Abstract
COVID-19 vaccine is regarded as the most promising means of limiting the spread of or eliminating the pandemic. The success of this strategy will rely on the rate of vaccine acceptance globally. The study aims to examine the factors that influence COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, intention, and hesitancy. PubMed was searched comprehensively for articles using the keyword “COVID-19 vaccine surveys.” Of the 192 records, 22 studies were eligible for the review. Eighty-two percent of these studies were conducted among the general population. Gender, age, education, and occupation were some of the socio-demographic variables associated with vaccine acceptance. Variables such as trust in authorities, risk perception of COVID-19 infection, vaccine efficacy, current or previous influenza vaccination, and vaccine safety affected vaccine acceptance. Globally, in March 2020, the average vaccine acceptance observed was 86% which dropped to 54% in July 2020 which later increased to 72% in September 2020. Globally, the average rate of vaccine hesitancy in April 2020 was 21%, which increased to 36% in July 2020 and later declined to 16% in October 2020. Large variability in vaccine acceptance and high vaccine hesitancy can influence the efforts to eliminate the COVID-19. Addressing the barriers and facilitators of vaccines will be crucial in implementing effective and tailored interventions to attain maximum vaccine coverage.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose enormous burdens on morbidity and mortality while severely disrupting societies and economies worldwide
The whole purpose of the review was to illustrate a succinct summarization of the prevalence and predictors of the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy worldwide
It was seen that there exists a large unevenness in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, intention, and hesitancy rates across the globe
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose enormous burdens on morbidity and mortality while severely disrupting societies and economies worldwide. Governments prepare themselves to ensure large-scale, equitable access and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Overcoming the pandemic will require sufficient health system capacity, and effective strategies to enhance trust in and acceptance of vaccines. Concern about vaccine hesitancy is growing worldwide (1). Vaccine hesitancy and misinformation act as hurdles in achieving high coverage and community immunity against the infection (2, 3). In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization stated vaccine hesitancy as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite the availability of vaccination services” (4). Concerns about vaccine hesitancy are growing globally, Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it among the top ten health threats in 2019 (7)
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