Implications of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Results of Online Bulletin Board Interviews. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Reluctance to accept vaccination against COVID-19 poses a significant public health risk and is known to be a multi-determined phenomenon. We conducted online focus groups, or "bulletin boards," in order to probe the nature of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its implications. Participants were 94 individuals from three distinct U.S. geographical areas and represented a range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Six themes emerged from the 3 day-long bulletin boards: the most trusted source of health information sought is the personal physician; information about health is nevertheless obtained from a wide variety of sources; stories about adverse side effects are especially "sticky"; government health institutions like CDC and FDA are not trusted; most respondents engaged in individualistic reasoning; and there is a wide spectrum of attitudes toward vaccination.

publication date

  • January 10, 2022

Research

keywords

  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Vaccines

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC8802137

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85123750693

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1056/NEJMp2103798

PubMed ID

  • 35111712

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 9