Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 12;39(7):1080-1086.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.01.010. Epub 2021 Jan 9.

Predictors of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Results of a nationwide survey

Jeanette B Ruiz  1 , Robert A Bell  2
Affiliations

Predictors of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Results of a nationwide survey

Jeanette B Ruiz et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Background: Public polling indicates that vaccine uptake will be suboptimal when COVID-19 vaccines become available. Formative research seeking an understanding of weak vaccination intentions is urgently needed.

Methods: Nationwide online survey of 804 U.S. English-speaking adults. Compensated participants were recruited from the U.S. through an internet survey panel of 2.5 million residents developed by a commercial survey firm. Recruitment was based on quota sampling to produce a U.S. Census-matched sample representative of the nation with regard to region of residence, sex, and age.

Results: COVID-19 vaccination intentions were weak, with 14.8% of respondents being unlikely to get vaccinated and another 23.0% unsure. Intent to vaccinate was highest for men, older people, individuals who identified as white and non-Hispanic, the affluent and college-educated, Democrats, those who were married or partnered, people with pre-existing medical conditions, and those vaccinated against influenza during the 2019-2020 flu season. In a multiple linear regression, significant predictors of vaccination intent were general vaccine knowledge (β = 0.311, p < .001), rejection of vaccine conspiracies (β = -0.117, p = .003), perceived severity of COVID-19 (β = 0.273, p < .001), influenza vaccine uptake (β = 0.178, p < .001), having ≥ 5 pre-existing conditions (β = 0.098, p = .003), being male (β = 0.119, p < .001), household income of ≥ $120,000 (β = 0.110, p = .004), identifying as a Democrat (β = 0.075, p < .029), and not relying upon social media for virus information (β = -0.090, p 〈002). Intent to vaccinate was lower for Fox News (57.3%) than CNN/MSNBC viewers (76.4%) (χ2(1) = 12.68, p < .001). Political party differences in threat appraisals and vaccine conspiracy beliefs are described.

Conclusions: Demographic characteristics, vaccine knowledge, perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, risk factors for COVID-19, and politics likely contribute to vaccination hesitancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Conspiracy beliefs; Coronavirus; Media; Social media; Vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

    1. Poland G.A. Tortoises, hares, and vaccines: a cautionary note for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. Vaccine. 2020;38:4219–4220. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.04.073. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johns Hopkins University. Coronavirus Resource Center, https://coronavirus.jhu.edu; 2020 [accessed 14, October 2020].
    1. National Institutes of Health. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment guidelines, https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html; 2020 [accessed 13, October 2020]. - PubMed
    1. Kaur S.P., Gupta V. COVID-19 vaccine: a comprehensive status report. Virus Res. 2020;288 doi: 10.1016/j.viruses.2020.198114. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease and Prevention. Flu Vaccination Coverage, United States, 2018-2019 Influenza Season, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-1819estimates.htm; 2019 [accessed 28, May 2020].

Substances