To vax or not to vax: Predictors of anti-vax attitudes and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy prior to widespread vaccine availability
Genre
Journal articleDate
2022-02-15Author
Roberts, Hannah A.Clark, D. Angus
Kalina, Claire
Sherman, Carter
Brislin, Sarah
Heitzeg, Mary M.
Hicks, Brian M.
Department
Psychology and NeuroscienceSubject
COVID 19Vaccines
Psychological attitudes
Social media
Vaccination and immunization
Pandemics
Educational attainment
MMR vaccine
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/7562Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264019Abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease responsible for millions of deaths worldwide. Effective vaccines against COVID-19 are now available, however, an extreme form of vaccine hesitancy known as anti-vax attitudes challenge vaccine acceptance and distribution efforts. To understand these anti-vax attitudes and their associated psychological characteristics, we examined several predictors of vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 and anti-vax attitudes generally. We surveyed 1004 adults (M = 47.0 years, SD = 17.1 years, range 18–98 years) in September-October 2020 across the United States (51% female, 49% male; 76.5% White, 23.5% non-White), prior to widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccines. Attitudes toward vaccinations were influenced by a variety of factors, especially political attitudes. We should therefore anticipate and attempt to mitigate these challenges to achieving widespread vaccination to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.Citation
Roberts HA, Clark DA, Kalina C, Sherman C, Brislin S, Heitzeg MM, et al. (2022) To vax or not to vax: Predictors of anti-vax attitudes and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy prior to widespread vaccine availability. PLoS ONE 17(2): e0264019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264019Citation to related work
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