COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Israeli adults before and after vaccines' availability: A cross-sectional national survey. Issue 43 (12th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Frankenthal, Dvora; Zatlawi, Miri; Karni-Efrati, Ziv; Keinan-Boker, Lital; Luxenburg, Osnat; Bromberg, Michal
• Is Part Of: Vaccine. Volume 40:Issue 43(2022)
• Page Start: 6271
• Page End: 6276
• Publication Date: 2022-10-12
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- Israel -- SARS-CoV-2 -- Vaccine hesitancy -- Vaccine uptake; VH Vaccine hesitancy -- SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccines -- Periodicals; 615.372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.08.070
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-410X

Abstract

Abstract: Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a major health threat to the efforts to tackle COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This study's objectives were to assess COVID-19 VH before and after vaccines' availability and to analyze the associations between COVID-19 VH and participants' characteristics. A national cross-sectional telephone interview survey among Israeli adults aged 21 and older was conducted from September 2020 through May 2021. Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines were assessed pre/post vaccines' availability. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify associations between demographic and health-related characteristics and COVID-19 VH. Most study participants (72.0 % of 2, 998) were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 across the survey period. The COVID-19 VH declined significantly from 45.6 % pre-vaccine availability to 16.3 % post-vaccine availability (P < 0.001). The multivariable analysis demonstrated that post-vaccine availability, COVID-19 VH was associated with younger age, Arab ethnicity, higher level of religiosity, lower education, past diagnosis of COVID-19, and influenza VH. The main reasons for VH after the vaccine availability included insufficient data on the vaccine (37.4 %) and fear of the vaccine's side effects (33.8 %). Despite the significant decrease in COVID-19 VH following vaccine availability, 16.3% of the population still refuses to get vaccinated. As Israel may face additional waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and booster vaccinations, multimedia vaccine promotions targeting the above-mentioned hesitant populations and their reasons for VH are urgently needed.