The acceptance of COVID-19 vaccinations rose from 2021 to 2022, with an increase of 5.2% worldwide, and by 20.4% in the United States, a new survey analysis reveals.
Researchers from the City University of New York and colleagues asked 23,000 participants in 23 countries about their willingness to accept vaccination. The survey was conducted between June and July 2022.
Willingness to receive a vaccine increased to 79% of respondents overall and 80.2% in the United States. Among healthcare workers, who globally represented nearly 11% of respondents, vaccine hesitancy decreased from 8.1% in 2021 to 4.6% in 2022. But the decrease was significantly lower than that for non-healthcare workers, the researchers noted.
In contrast, vaccine hesitancy rose in eight countries, from 1% in the United Kingdom, to as much as 21.1% in South Africa. About 20% of healthcare workers reported receiving at least one booster dose, compared to 40.3% of non-healthcare workers.
In addition, almost 1 in 8 (12.1%) of vaccinated survey respondents said they are hesitant about booster doses, the investigators reported. Booster hesitancy was higher at younger ages, they found.
Increasing public support
“Vaccination remains a cornerstone of the COVID-19 pandemic response, but broad public support remains elusive,” Ayman El-Mohandes, MBBCh, MD and colleagues said.
Trust in vaccine science and the belief that vaccines are safe and can prevent COVID-19 were strongly correlated with acceptance, the investigators found. Efforts to respond to the pandemic must include building trust in an effort to help change the behaviors of unvaccinated, undervaccinated and indifferent people, they said.
“Strategies to enhance vaccine acceptance should include messages that emphasize compassion over fear and use trusted messengers, particularly healthcare workers,” researcher Jeffrey Lazarus, PhD, MIH, also of CUNY, said.
Full findings were published in Nature Medicine.
Related articles:
Use the ‘5 C’s’ to tackle COVID vaccine hesitancy, physicians say
On-site clinics helped to boost vaccine uptake in assisted living, pharmacy partnership study finds
Long-term care staff warm up to vaccine with 94 percent increase in willingness
