Concerns and motivations about COVID-19 vaccination

More than 200 COVID-19 vaccines are in development worldwide, with governments securing deals to access advance doses. But access is only one issue. Willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available has varied considerably across countries over the course of the pandemic. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, we presented data collected in Australia in April, 2020, which suggested 86% of people surveyed (3741 of 4362) would be willing to vaccinate against COVID-19 if a vaccine became available. Furthermore, the COCONEL group showed in March, 2020, that 74% of French citizens would vaccinate. Between April and July, 2020, willingness to vaccinate has ranged from 58% in the USA to 64% in the UK and 74% in New Zealand. The New Zealand data showed that the most commonly reported reasons to get vaccinated were to protect family and self, with safety being the chief concern about the vaccine. It is important to investigate both motivations and concerns about a future COVID-19 vaccine to help shape communication strategies.

In the latest two surveys from an Australian longitudinal study, participants in June and July, 2020, were asked to respond on a seven-point Likert scale to the statement “If a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, I will get it” (strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree [yes], neither agree nor disagree (indifferent), and somewhat disagree, disagree, strongly disagree [no]). In June, 2020, 87% (1195 of 1371) of the sample said they would get the COVID-19 vaccine if it became available; in July, 2020, this percentage was 90% (1144 of 1274), a slight increase of 1·91% (95% CI 0·08–3·73; p=0·030, McNemar's test of paired proportions, n=997).