To vaccinate or not to vaccinate!? Predictors of willingness to receive Covid-19 vaccination in Europe, the U.S., and China

Abstract

Researcher teams around the globe including the "Project Lightspeed" are intensively working on vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the availability of effective vaccines does not guarantee the vaccination willingness among the population. In spring 2021, we investigated the vaccination willingness and its potential predictors in representative online samples in nine countries (China, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, U.K., U.S.). Of the 9,264 participants, 79.9% revealed Covid-19 vaccination willingness. The highest willingness was in the U.K., followed by Spain and China, the lowest in Russia. In most countries, the perception of governmental Covid-19 measures as useful and the use of television reports as Covid-19 information source positively predicted the willingness. Further factors such as demographic variables, mental and physical health status, evaluation of governmental communication, social media use, and general adherence to Covid-19 measures showed a country-specific predictive pattern. Recommendations how to increase the vaccination willingness are provided.

Fig 1. Percentage of participants who are already Covid-19 vaccinated or who want to be vaccinated (country-specific samples).

Notes. China: N = 1,020, France: N = 1,001, Germany: N = 1,145, Poland: N = 1,004, Russia: N = 1,024, Spain: N = 985, Sweden: N = 1,003, the U.K.: N = 1,050, the U.S.: N = 1,032.

Fig 2. Percentage of participants who do not want to be Covid-19 vaccinated (country-specific samples).

Notes. China: N = 1,020, France: N = 1,001, Germany: N = 1,145, Poland: N = 1,004, Russia: N = 1,024, Spain: N = 985, Sweden: N = 1,003, the U.K.: N = 1,050, the U.S.: N = 1,032. Overall vaccination rejection = 20.1%.