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 Aug 23;39(36):5116-5128.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.07.056. Epub 2021 Jul 23.

Enablers and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake: An international study of perceptions and intentions

Paul F Burke  1 , Daniel Masters  2 , Graham Massey  3
Affiliations

Enablers and barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake: An international study of perceptions and intentions

Paul F Burke et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

The development of COVID-19 vaccines is occurring at unprecedented speeds, but require high coverage rates to be successful. This research examines individuals' psychological beliefs that may act as enablers and barriers to vaccination intentions. Using the health beliefs model as a guide to our conceptual framework, we explore factors influencing vaccine hesitancy and health beliefs regarding risks and severity of the disease, along with individual variables such as income, age, religion, altruism, and collectivism. A questionnaire using newly created measures for various antecedents provided 4303 usable responses from Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States. A factor analytic and structural equation model indicates that trust in vaccine approval, the perceived effectiveness of the vaccine for protecting others, and conspiracy beliefs are the most significant drivers of intentions to vaccinate. Older people, those seeking employment, and those who have received a recent influenza vaccine are more likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The findings have implications for improving communication strategies targeting individuals about the merits of vaccination, particularly focusing on younger individuals and expanded message framing to include altruistic considerations, and to improve government transparency regarding the effectiveness and side effects of vaccines.

Keywords: COVID-19; Conspiracy beliefs; Health beliefs model; Immunization; Structural equation model; Vaccination hesitancy.

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.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual Framework.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kochhar S., Salmon D.A. Planning for COVID-19 vaccines safety surveillance. Vaccine. 2020;38(40):6194–6198. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dubé E., Vivion M., MacDonald N.E. Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal and the anti-vaccine movement: influence, impact and implications. Exp Revew Vacc. 2015;14(1):99–117. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Report of the SAGE working Group on vaccine hesitancy; 2014. http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2014/october/1_Report_WORK....
    1. Larson H.J., Jarrett C., Schulz W.S., Chaudhuri M., Zhou Y., Dube E., et al. Measuring vaccine hesitancy: the development of a survey tool. Vaccine. 2015;33(34):4165–4175. - PubMed
    1. Hochbaum G.M. US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Bureau of State Services, Division of Special Health Services, Tuberculosis Program; 1958. Public participation in medical screening programs: A socio-psychological study.