Coronavirus vaccines stir doubts among many people worldwide, new study
shows
Nature Medicine publishes findings of a 13,400-person survey in 19
countries hit hard by COVID-19

Date:
October 20, 2020
Source:
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
Summary:
A new study highlights potential global hesitancy to accept a
COVID-19 vaccine. Based on data collected with the previously
validated COVID- SCORE survey of a sample of over 13,400 individuals
from 19 countries that have been hard-hit by the virus, the
investigators found that 72 percent of participants would likely
take the vaccine. Of the remaining 28 percent, 14 percent would
refuse, while 14 percent would hesitate, which translates into
tens of millions of potential vaccine avoiders.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A research team from the City University of New York Graduate School
of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), the Barcelona Institute
for Global Health (ISGlobal), the Vaccine Confidence Project at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and Georgetown University Law School announced today that Nature Medicine has published
their research revealing potential global hesitancy to accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Based on data collected with the previously validated COVID-SCORE survey of a sample of over 13,400 individuals from 19 countries that
have been hard-hit by the virus, the investigators found that 72% of participants would likely take the vaccine. Of the remaining 28%, 14%
would refuse, while 14% would hesitate, which translates into tens of
millions of potential vaccine avoiders.


==========================================================================
To date, more than 90 COVID-19 vaccines are in development, half of
which are in human trials. In addition to addressing the formidable
challenges of developing a safe and effective vaccine, producing it on a
large scale, and distributing it equitably, health authorities worldwide
must now consider the added obstacle of vaccine hesitancy.

"We found that the problem of vaccine hesitancy is strongly related
with a lack of trust in government. Vaccine confidence was invariably
higher in countries where trust was higher," said Jeffrey V. Lazarus,
ISGlobal researcher and study coordinator.

"We need to increase vaccine confidence, and we need to improve the
public's understanding of how they can help control the spread of COVID-19
in their families and their communities," adds Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean
of CUNY SPH, and co-coordinator of the study.

The country with the highest score of positive responses to "taking a
proven, safe and effective vaccine" was China (87%), which also had the
lowest percentage of negative responses (0.7%). On the other end, Poland
had the highest number of negative responses (27%), while the Russian respondents gave the lowest number of positive responses (55%). In the
U.S., 76% of respondents answered positively, 11% were negative, and 13%
had no opinion.

When asked if "you would accept a vaccine if it were recommended by your employer and was approved safe and effective by the government," 32% of respondents completely agreed, while 18% somewhat or completely disagreed.

Again, a great variation between countries was observed -- China again
had the highest percentage of positive responses (84%) and the lowest percentage of negative responses (4%). Russia had the highest percentage
of negative responses (41%) and the lowest percentage of respondents (27%)
who were likely to accept their employer's recommendation. In the U.S.,
52% had confidence in an employer's recommendation, and 25% did not.

Vaccine acceptance also varied with age (with higher acceptance among
older people as compared to those aged under 22), income (higher among
people earning more than 32 dollars per day, as compared to those earning
under two dollars per day), or education level. Curiously, people who
had fallen sick with COVID- 19, or whose relatives had fallen sick,
were not more likely to respond positively.

"It will be tragic if we develop safe and effective vaccines and people
refuse to take them. We need to develop a robust and sustained effort to address vaccine hesitancy and rebuild public confidence in the personal,
family and community benefits of immunizations," warns Scott C. Ratzan,
study co-author and Distinguished Lecturer at CUNY SPH. "Our findings
are consistent with recent surveys in the US, which show diminished
public trust in a COVID-19 vaccine," he concludes.

Heidi J. Larson, study co-author and Professor and Director of the
Vaccine Confidence Project at LSHTM says, "These findings should be a
call to action for the international health community. If we do not start building vaccine literacy and restoring public trust in science today,
we cannot hope to contain this pandemic." The authors also point out
that people's decisions about vaccination depend on many factors and
can change with time. In fact, since this survey was conducted in late
June 2020, vaccine-related issues have become increasingly politicized
and the antivaccine movement has become more aggressive, which suggests
that vaccine hesitancy may be a greater threat today.

Funding was provided by the City University of New York Graduate School
of Public Health and Health Policy Foundation, Bocconi University,
J. Fielding, the United States Council for International Business
Foundation and K. Rabin.

Consensus Strategies was the funding recipient. J.V.L. acknowledges
support to ISGlobal from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the 'Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023' Programme (CEX2018- 000806-S) and from the Government of Catalonia
through the CERCA Programme.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by CUNY_Graduate_School_of_Public_Health_and_Health_Policy.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jeffrey V. Lazarus, Scott C. Ratzan, Adam Palayew, Lawrence
O. Gostin,
Heidi J. Larson, Kenneth Rabin, Spencer Kimball, Ayman
El-Mohandes. A global survey of potential acceptance of a COVID-19
vaccine. Nature Medicine, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1124-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201020131340.htm

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