Download This PaperWhat Attributes Influence Rural Household's Willingness to Get Vaccinated for COVID-19? Perspectives from Six Chinese Townships
54 Pages Posted: 18 Jul 2022
Abstract
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination has been identified as the most effective mitigation strategy against the deadly virus. This has led developed nations to accelerate research and shorten the licensure process for COVID-19 vaccines, but these changes have caused widespread concerns about vaccine safety. Research literature has long indicated that citizens’ perceptions of protective actions will determine their behaviors, and thus, the relationship between vaccine perception and vaccination intention needs to be assessed. To better understand vaccination willingness, especially in rural populations, this study surveyed 492 households from six townships in the Ya’an region of China’s Sichuan Province in November 2020. The survey followed the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) framework for collecting perceptions about the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines as protective actions, information sources, emergency preparedness, emotional response, and demographic characteristics. The results showed that influenza vaccine perceptions significantly affected people’s COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intentions. Unlike previous vaccination willingness and other COVID-19 studies, this study found that perceptions of resource-related attributes and health-related attributes both affected COVID-19 vaccination intentions, but the former were slightly stronger than the latter. Moreover, these effects were strongest among respondents who had the most positive perceptions of their influenza vaccine experience. This study’s findings will benefit local authorities in designing appropriate policies and measures (e.g., hazard education, vaccination convenience enhancement) for increasing vaccination compliance for the current and future pandemics.
Note:
Funding Information: This study was supported by Sichuan Federation of Social Science Associations, China (No. SC20C012).
Declaration of Interests: None.
Ethical Approval Statement: Ethics approval for conducting Human Subjects research was obtained from both the US University’s Institutional Review Board (Jacksonville State University), and the Chinese University’s Ethics committee (Sichuan University). Informed consent was obtained from the respondents before commencing the questioning and those respondents that were able to read and write filled in the questionnaire independently while those who were illiterate were assisted by the interviewer.
Keywords: COVID-19, vaccination willingness, protective action perceptions, information sources, China vaccines, Sichuan townships, vaccination administration
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