{"id":8055,"date":"2020-12-11T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/question\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab"},"modified":"2021-01-25T08:06:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T08:06:29","slug":"data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab","status":"publish","type":"question","link":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab","title":{"rendered":"How willing are the UK public to get a Covid-19 jab?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the UK to be inoculated against Covid-19, following the approval of the Pfizer vaccine.<\/p>\n

While this news has been widely met with great optimism, the pandemic is occurring amid a backdrop of misinformation and mistrust in vaccines globally. Specifically, there are questions about the vaccine\u2019s safety and its long-term side effects, as well as conspiracy theories about ill-intentions on the part of governments in vaccinating their citizens. So as the NHS launches its largest ever vaccination campaign, to what extent will the public be willing to participate?<\/p>\n

A recent report, based on a survey of 32,361 individuals in the UK, finds that 64% of people intend to receive the Covid-19 vaccine when one becomes available\u00a0(the survey was conducted in September 2020 before the UK\u2019s approval of the Pfizer vaccine). As Figure 1 shows, this compares with 23% who are uncertain and 14% who are unwilling (Paul et al, 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Figure 1: Likelihood of receiving the Covid-19 vaccine when one is available<\/h4>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

Source: Paul et al (2020)<\/a><\/h5>\n

The report then examined\u00a0factors associated with four domains of negative attitudes towards vaccines in general: mistrust of vaccine benefits; worries about unforeseen future effects; concerns about commercial profiteering; and preference for natural immunity over vaccination. Indeed, 16% of respondents display high levels of distrust about vaccine safety related to one of more of these factors.<\/p>\n

Of particular concern is the finding that those who are more vulnerable to illness and death from Covid-19 \u2013 individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds or in lower socio-economic groups, as well as those with poor knowledge of the virus and poor adherence to Covid-19 guidelines \u2013 are also more likely to express mistrust in and negative attitudes towards vaccines \u2013 see Figure 2.<\/p>\n

The researchers examine how these attitudes and other factors in turn relate to uncertainty and unwillingness to receive the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Individuals with lower annual income (less than \u00a316,000), who did not receive a flu vaccine last year, who showed poor adherence to Covid-19 government guidelines, who are women and who live with children are all more likely to be uncertain and unwilling to receive the vaccine (Paul et al, 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n

High levels of doubts about vaccine safety and concerns around future side effects are the most important determinants of both uncertainty and unwillingness to vaccinate against Covid-19\u00a0(Paul et al, 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Related question: Why are people in some socio-economic groups more vulnerable to coronavirus?<\/a>
\nRelated question: How is coronavirus affecting inequalities across ethnic groups?<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Figure 2: Predictors of negative attitudes towards vaccines<\/h4>\n

\"Figure<\/p>\n

Source: Paul et al (2020)<\/a><\/h5>\n

Widespread negative attitudes towards immunisations and unwillingness to be vaccinated can pose a serious threat to public health, and in this case, overcoming the Covid-19\u00a0pandemic. Public health messaging should therefore be tailored to addressing the public\u2019s most pressing concerns about vaccines, namely uncertainty about their effectiveness and fears about potential long-term effects.<\/p>\n

Where can I find out more?<\/h3>\n

Anti-vaccine attitudes and risk factors for not agreeing to vaccination against COVID-19 amongst 32,361 UK adults: Implications for public health communications<\/a>: Report by Elise Paul, Daisy Fancourt and Andrew Steptoe.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 vaccination intention in the UK: Results from the COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptability Study (CoVAccS), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey<\/a>: Study by Susan Mary Sherman and colleagues.<\/p>\n

Authors: Elise Paul<\/a>, Daisy Fancourt<\/a> and Andrew Steptoe<\/a><\/h5>\n
Photo by John Cameron\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[231,493,230,226],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow willing are the UK public to get a Covid-19 jab? - Economics Observatory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the UK to be inoculated against Covid-19, following the approval of the Pfizer vaccine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How willing are the UK public to get a Covid-19 jab? - Economics Observatory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the UK to be inoculated against Covid-19, following the approval of the Pfizer vaccine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Economics Observatory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-25T08:06:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Likelihood-to-have-vaccine.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@econobservatory\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/data-trust-vaccines-and-willingness-get-covid-19-jab\",\"name\":\"How willing are the UK public to get a Covid-19 jab? 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