A Global Study of COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions: The Role of Personal Experiences and Risk Perceptions

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to assess the impact of personal experiences on vaccine decision-making. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between experiences with COVID-19 and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19.
Methods
We administered 28 repeated cross-sectional, online surveys between June 2020 and June 2021 in the US and Asia. The main exposures were three types of experiences: COVID-19 diagnosis, knowing a friend/family member with COVID-19, and exposures to media containing COVID-19 patients. A series of logistic regression models estimated the association between each experience and acceptance of a hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine. We also explored perceived susceptibility as a potential mediator.
Results
Intent to vaccinate was lowest in the US and Taiwan, and highest in India, Indonesia, and China. Personal diagnosis with COVID-19 had the greatest impact on intentions to vaccinate across country sites compared to those who experienced a friend or family member diagnosed with COVID-19 or exposures to personal stories reported through media. In India participants that reported a personal diagnosis with COVID-19 had 12.95 times the odds (95% CI: 4.89, 34.28) of accepting a COVID-19 vaccine compared to those with no diagnosis. Higher risk perceptions were associated with higher intention to vaccinate against COVID-19.
Conclusions
Proximity and seriousness of experiences are influential factors for intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. This study highlights the numerous ways in which pandemic experiences may influence intention to vaccinate against COVID-19 across geographies and cultures, where the course of the pandemic differed.