COVID-19 vaccine intentions in Australia.

Prior to the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine and when case numbers were low, our longitudinal survey with Australian adults showed that 85·8% (3741 of 4362) were willing to be vaccinated in April, 2020, and 89·8% (1144 of 1274) in July, 2020. Younger adults perceived themselves to be at less risk of infection and were less willing to receive a vaccine.

Since then, Australia's vaccine rollout has gained rapid momentum in some states, due in part to an outbreak of the highly contagious delta (B.1.617.2) variant. In July–August, 2021, we did a nationally representative survey of 2050 adults aged 18–49 years to understand barriers to vaccine uptake in a group underrepresented in current research and with lower vaccine uptake. Participants indicated their intentions on a six-point scale. We found that 871 (42·5%) intended to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, 467 (22·8%) would get it when they had time, 177 (8·6%) would delay being vaccinated, 223 (10·9%) planned to avoid getting it for as long as possible, 121 (5·9%) said that they would never get a COVID-19 vaccine, and 191 (9·3%) were unsure.