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
. 2023 Aug 7;41(35):5150-5158.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.07.006. Epub 2023 Jul 7.

Social processes, practical issues, and COVID-19 vaccination among hesitant adults

Don E Willis  1 , Sharon Reece  2 , Morgan Gurel-Headley  3 , James P Selig  4 , Ji Li  4 , Stacy Zimmerman  3 , Lawrence E Cornett  3 , Pearl A McElfish  5
Affiliations

Social processes, practical issues, and COVID-19 vaccination among hesitant adults

Don E Willis et al. Vaccine. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to examine relationships between COVID-19 vaccination, social processes, and the practical issues of healthcare coverage and workplace requirements. We examine these relationships among individuals who expressed some degree of hesitancy towards receiving the vaccine. Assessing relationships between COVID-19 vaccination, social processes, and practical issues among vaccine-hesitant individuals has implications for public health policy and intervention.

Methods: We analyzed weighted data from a random sample phone survey of Arkansas adults (N = 2,201) between March 1st and March 28th, 2022 and constrained our analytical sample to those who had reported some degree of vaccine hesitancy (N = 1,251). Statistical analyses included weighted and unweighted descriptive statistics, weighted bivariate logistic regressions, and a weighted multivariate logistic regression to obtain adjusted odds ratios for COVID-19 vaccination.

Results: More than two-thirds (62.5 %) of respondents were vaccinated, despite their hesitancy. Adjusted odds of COVID-19 vaccination were greater among Black (OR = 2.55; 95 % CI[1.63, 3.97]) and Hispanic respondents (OR = 2.46; 95 % CI[1.53, 3.95]), respondents whose healthcare provider recommended vaccination (OR = 2.50; 95 % CI[1.66, 3.77]), and as perceptions of vaccination coverage (OR = 2.04; 95 % CI[1.71, 2.43]) and subjective social status increased (OR = 1.10; 95 % CI[1.01, 1.19]). Adjusted odds of COVID-19 vaccination were greater among respondents with a workplace that recommended (OR = 1.96; 95 % CI[1.03, 3.72]) or required vaccination (OR = 12.62; 95 % CI[4.76, 33.45]) and among respondents who were not employed (OR = 1.82; 95 % CI[1.10, 3.01]) compared to those whose workplace did not recommend or require COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusions: Some hesitant individuals become vaccinated despite their hesitancy-a group we refer to as "hesitant adopters." Social processes and practical issues are important correlates of vaccination among those who are hesitant. Workplace requirements appear to be of particular importance for vaccination among hesitant individuals. Provider recommendations, norms, social status, and workplace policies may be effective points of intervention among those who express vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare; Policy; Social status; Vaccination; Vaccine 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.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. CDC. COVID data tracker weekly review. Cent Dis Control Prev 2023. [accessed March 7, 2023] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html.
    1. Frank RG, Dach L, Lurie N. It was the government that produced COVID-19 vaccine success. Health Aff Forefr 2021. 10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448. - DOI
    1. CDC. COVID-19 vaccination coverage and vaccine confidence among adults; 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/covidvaxview/interact... [accessed January 26, 2023].
    1. Hu S, Xiong C, Li Q, Wang Z, Jiang Y. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy cannot fully explain disparities in vaccination coverage across the contiguous United States. Vaccine 2022;40:5471–82. 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.07.051. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Siegler AJ, Luisi N, Hall EW, Bradley H, Sanchez T, Lopman BA, et al. Trajectory of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy over time and association of initial vaccine hesitancy with subsequent vaccination. JAMA Netw Open 2021;4:e2126882. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances