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
. 2022 Mar 15;22(1):503.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12900-y.

Exploring perceived risk for COVID-19 and its role in protective behavior and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: a qualitative study after the first wave

Naomi J Patterson  1 , Valerie A Paz-Soldan  2   3 , Richard Oberhelman  2 , Lina Moses  2   3 , Aubrey Madkour  4 , Thomas T Miles  2
Affiliations

Exploring perceived risk for COVID-19 and its role in protective behavior and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: a qualitative study after the first wave

Naomi J Patterson et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has had severe impacts on morbidity and mortality globally.

Methods: This study was set in rural central Kentucky and included participants recruited from public spaces. Fifteen qualitative interviews about personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic were conducted by phone from July 3 to July 24, 2020. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using a grounded theory approach.

Results: Participants who perceived COVID-19 to be a severe risk tended to have personal health concerns and therefore reported taking protective measures for themselves. A slightly smaller proportion of participants reported taking measures to protect others (particularly family). A minority of participants had an ambivalent attitude towards the risk and only took measures if required. COVID-19 vaccine acceptability was low with most participants expressing concerns regarding their need for a vaccine, safety of this vaccine, the value of personal rights, or future vaccine supply.

Conclusions: Most participants perceived some risk of COVID-19 and took steps to prevent infections in themselves and others. Mandates for mask use in certain locations were additionally useful for those who had an ambivalent attitude towards the risk of illness. There was surprisingly little connection between perceiving COVID-19 risk and a desire for the COVID-19 vaccine. In this setting, vaccine acceptability was low, with vaccine concerns outweighing perceived potential benefits. In conclusion, because the risk was often constructed in terms of worries for themselves and others, the framing of health education materials for protective behaviors in these terms may be effective. Furthermore, future COVID-19 vaccine education should address vaccine knowledge and concerns, such as the need for a vaccine and its safety, and emphasize how a vaccination would reduce their chances of severe disease if they were to get sick.

Keywords: COVID-19; Protective behavior; Vaccine acceptability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Martin A, Markhvida M, Hallegatte S, Walsh B. Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Household Consumption and Poverty. Econ Disaster Clim Chang. 2020:1–27. Accessed 12/18/20 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bulut C, Kato Y. Epidemiology of COVID-19. Turk J Med Sci. 2020;50(SI-1):563–70. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saadat S, Rawtani D, Hussain CM. Environmental perspective of COVID-19. Sci Total Environ. 2020;728:138870. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet. 2020;395(10227):912–20. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fadda M, Albanese E, Suggs LS. When a COVID-19 vaccine is ready, will we all be ready for it? Int J Public Health. 2020;65(6):711–2. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances