Abstract
This study investigates changes in willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 and the effect of the extended restrictions in metropolitan Victoria on this change. Longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data were collected from online surveys distributed in April, between July and August, and December 2020. Australian adults who were ≥18 years old were recruited through email lists, social media networks, and paid Facebook advertisement. Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 was self-reported. The results showed that participants were more willing to vaccinate if the vaccine was safe at survey 1 (longitudinal: adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.88, 95%CI = 1.38, 2.56; cross-sectional: aOR = 3.73, 95%CI = 2.55, 5.45) and survey 2 (longitudinal: aOR = 1.54, 95%CI = 1.19, 2.00; cross-sectional: aOR = 2.48, 1.67, 3.67), compared to survey 3. The change in willingness to vaccinate if the vaccine was safe and effective was not significant for those in Metropolitan Victoria; but was for those living in other Australian locations at survey 1 (OR = 2.13, 95%CI = 1.64, 2.76) and survey 2 (OR = 1.62, 95%CI = 1.30, 2.01), compared to survey 3. Willingness to vaccinate even if a vaccine had not been proven safe decreased at survey 3 (OR = 2.02, 95%CI = 1.14, 3.57) for those living in Metropolitan Victoria. In conclusion willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 decreased over time among Australians, except for those living in metropolitan Victoria, where an additional strict and prolonged lockdown was implemented around the time of survey 2. Either the experience of the lockdown, or the presence of the COVID-19 virus itself had a positive influence on participants’ willingness to vaccinate, even if such a vaccine was not yet proven to be safe and effective.
Highlights
Vaccine hesitancy has been an issue since the development of the first vaccine
The disparities highlight the need to continuously track vaccine hesitancy to assist government efforts with achieving high vaccination rates. This brief study updates the results of the Alley et al (2021) on the changes in willingness to vaccinate for COVID-19 by including new data from a third survey conducted in December 2020
This study aimed to investigate the impact of additional extended restrictions in the metropolitan Victoria on willingness to vaccinate for COVID-19
Summary
In. 2019, the World Health Organization ranked vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to global health [1]. The percentage of non-medical vaccination exemption has risen in the last two decades in the U.S [3]. This is likely due to complacency and low perceived risk of infection, as studies have found vaccination rates increased in places where outbreaks occurred [4,5]. Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020 [6], 219 countries and territories worldwide have reported more than 120 million confirmed cased and 2.7 million deaths (23 March 2021) [7]. Several vaccines have been developed and are supported for implementation globally due to evidence of their safety and efficacy
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