Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines increased overall by 5.2% in 2022 in comparison with 2021, in keeping with a survey of 160,000 individuals in 23 countries, published within the journal Nature Medicine.

Nevertheless, levels of acceptance varied greatly amongst countries, with eight reporting increases in hesitancy starting from 1% within the UK to 21.1% in South Africa. Of those that were fully vaccinated, 12% reported that they were still hesitant and even more likely to refuse a booster dose.

These findings were presented by a global team of researchers including Prof Heidi Larson, who leads The Vaccine Confidence Project on the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The aim to assist guide policymakers to more effectively goal communication strategies and vaccination campaigns.

Despite a big, global rollout of protected and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, hesitancy to receive these, sustained partly by misinformation and mistrust, continues to be a hurdle to the complete realization of their potential in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using a 30-question, online survey the team investigated trends in worldwide vaccine acceptance between 2021-2022. A complete of 23,000 respondents aged 18 or over from 23 countries whose populations represent 60% of the worldwide total were surveyed between 29 June and 10July 2022. Half of those respondents were women, one-fifth had a university degree and one in 10 were healthcare employees.

Overall, the team found that there was general willingness to just accept vaccination – 79.1% of those surveyed – a rise of  5.2% in comparison with figures from June 2021. Belief in vaccine efficacy and safety was related to acceptance.

Although vaccine acceptance increased in most countries, vaccine hesitancy was on the rise in eight countries, starting from 1% within the UK to 21.1% in South Africa. Males in Nigeria and Peru were more more likely to be hesitant, whilst in countries resembling China and Poland, females were more more likely to be hesitant . The team found no overall association between income and hesitancy across the board.

Roughly one in eight vaccinated survey respondents reported that they were hesitant to receive a booster dose, starting from 1.1% in China to twenty-eight.9% in Russia. Similarly to general vaccine hesitancy, demographic aspects played a task in country-specific variance in opinions of booster vaccines. For instance, in Spain, Germany or South Korea, younger individuals were more more likely to be hesitant, whilst in Ecuador it was older individuals who were more more likely to be hesitant. Canada and the UK were amongst the 4 countries where earning below median income was related to an increased likelihood of hesitancy.  

There was a small but significant overall increase in whether parents were willing to let their children be vaccinated, up from 67.6% in 2021 to 69.5% in 2022. Nevertheless, in eight countries, hesitancy increased (starting from a rise of two.4% in Poland to 56.3% in Brazil) with a parent’s own hesitancy to be vaccinated themselves being the largest influencer of this trend.

In comparison with 2021, 38.6% of those surveyed claim that they are actually less attentive with regards to receiving recent information regarding COVID-19 vaccines, starting from 7.5% in India to 58.3% in Nigeria.  

As co-author Heidi Larson, notes: “This study highlights quite a few issues we will address now, each for the present continuing pandemic in addition to for future preparedness. Lots of those that have been vaccinated still report hesitancy around boosters for themselves, COVID-19 vaccination for his or her children. This story will not be over.”

Source:

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Journal reference:

Lazarus et al., A survey of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance across 23 countries in 2022. Nature Medicine. DOI 10.1038/s41591-022-02185-4.