Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 153, December 2021, 106727
Preventive Medicine

The role of trust in the likelihood of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine: Results from a national survey

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106727Get rights and content

Highlights

  • High COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in a nationally representative sample of US adults.

  • COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is very high among Blacks.

  • Lack of trust in vaccine development/approval process explained most hesitancy.

  • High vaccine confidence is associated with trust in individuals' physician and CDC.

  • Building trust in the COVID-19 vaccine process is critical to end the pandemic.

Abstract

High acceptance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines is instrumental to ending the pandemic. Vaccine acceptance by subgroups of the population depends on their trust in COVID-19 vaccines. We surveyed a probability-based internet panel of 7832 adults from December 23, 2020–January 19, 2021 about their likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine and the following domains of trust: an individual's generalized trust, trust in COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy and safety, trust in the governmental approval process and general vaccine development process for COVID-19 vaccines, trust in their physician about COVID-19, and trust in other sources about COVID-19. We included identified at-risk subgroups: healthcare workers, older adults (65–74-year-olds and ≥ 75-year-olds), frontline essential workers, other essential workers, and individuals with high-risk chronic conditions. Of 5979 respondents, only 57.4% said they were very likely or somewhat likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine. More hesitant respondents (p < 0.05) included: women, young adults (18–49 years), Blacks, individuals with lower education, those with lower income, and individuals without high-risk chronic conditions. Lack of trust in the vaccine approval and development processes explained most of the demographic variation in stated vaccination likelihood, while other domains of trust explained less variation. We conclude that hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines is high overall and among at-risk subgroups, and hesitancy is strongly tied to trust in the vaccine approval and development processes. Building trust is critical to ending the pandemic.

Keywords

COVID-19
Vaccination
Trust
Racial/ethnic minorities
Older adults
Essential workers
Underserved communities

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