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. 2023 Jan;53(1):236-247.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291721001434. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Coronavirus conspiracy suspicions, general vaccine attitudes, trust and coronavirus information source as predictors of vaccine hesitancy among UK residents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Daniel Allington  1 , Siobhan McAndrew  2 , Vivienne Moxham-Hall  3 , Bobby Duffy  3
Affiliations

Coronavirus conspiracy suspicions, general vaccine attitudes, trust and coronavirus information source as predictors of vaccine hesitancy among UK residents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Daniel Allington et al. Psychol Med. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy presents an obstacle to the campaign to control COVID-19. It has previously been found to be associated with youth, female gender, low income, low education, low medical trust, minority ethnic group membership, low perceived risk from COVID-19, use of certain social media platforms and conspiracy beliefs. However, it is unclear which of these predictors might explain variance associated with others.

Methods: An online survey was conducted with a representative sample of 4343 UK residents, aged 18-75, between 21 November and 21 December 2020. Predictors of vaccine hesitancy were assessed using linear rank-order models.

Results: Coronavirus vaccine hesitancy is associated with youth, female gender, low income, low education, high informational reliance on social media, low informational reliance on print and broadcast media, membership of other than white ethnic groups, low perceived risk from COVID-19 and low trust in scientists and medics, as well as (to a much lesser extent) low trust in government. Coronavirus conspiracy suspicions and general vaccine attitudes appear uniquely predictive, jointly explaining 35% of variance. Following controls for these variables, effects associated with trust, ethnicity and social media reliance largely or completely disappear, whereas the effect associated with education is reversed.

Conclusions: Strengthening positive attitudes to vaccination and reducing conspiracy suspicions with regards to the coronavirus may have a positive effect on vaccine uptake, especially among ethnic groups with heightened vaccine hesitancy. However, vaccine hesitancy associated with age and gender does not appear to be explained by other predictor variables tested here.

Keywords: Coronavirus; COVID-19; Vaccine hesitancy; Conspiracy beliefs; Conspiracy theories.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Rank-order correlations with vaccine hesitancy.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Predictors of vaccine hesitancy, with 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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