AI Article Synopsis
- About one-third of Americans were hesitant about getting the COVID-19 vaccine in April 2021, leading to a focus group study to explore their reasons for this reluctance.
- 59 unvaccinated adults participated in 10 video-conference focus groups, where their discussions were analyzed for common themes regarding vaccine hesitancy.
- Four key themes emerged: distrust in experts and institutions, safety concerns about vaccines, resistance to mandates and restrictions, and acceptance of others getting vaccinated despite their own hesitancy.
- The study suggests that communication strategies should focus on addressing individual worries, outlining vaccine benefits, and presenting factual information to build trust.
Article Abstract
Introduction: Around one-third of Americans reported they were unwilling to get a COVID-19 vaccine in April 2021. This focus group study aimed to provide insights on the factors contributing to unvaccinated adults' hesitancy or refusal to get vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.
Method: Ipsos recruited 59 unvaccinated US adults who were vaccine hesitant (i.e., conflicted about or opposed to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination) using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. Trained facilitators led a total of 10 focus groups via video-conference in March and April 2021. Two coders manually coded the data from each group using a coding frame based on the focus group discussion guide. The coding team collaborated in analyzing the data for key themes.
Results: Data analysis of transcripts from the focus groups illuminated four main themes associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: lack of trust in experts and institutions; concern about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines; resistance towards prescriptive guidance and restrictions; and, despite personal reluctance or unwillingness to get vaccinated, acceptance of others getting vaccinated.
Discussion: Vaccine confidence communication strategies should address individual concerns, describe the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, and highlight evolving science using factural and neutral presentations of information to foster trust.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9917274 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281497 | PLOS |
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