Vaccine Barriers and Pathways to a Vaccinated Society
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The COVID-19 Vaccine
Barriers and Pathways to a
Vaccinated Society
2
Executive Summary
This report examines attitudes as they relate to COVID-19 and vaccinations. It is noted that while there
is significantly less concern among Australian respondents about the likelihood of catching COVID-19
and the impact on health if caught, the sample indicates a significantly high willingness to receive a
COVID-19 vaccination. It is possible that a campaign that emphasis the role of the role of vaccination
in helping to protect the more vulnerable in the community would have a particularly stronger impact
on promoting uptake, as opposed as focusing on the benefits to the individual, especially as there is
strong agreement among all respondents that people have a duty to protect themselves and others.
There is less trust in government, business, and pharmaceutical companies in Australia, so campaigns
should be as transparent as possible, and a clear and honest reporting of vaccine efficacy and side
effects is required. Overall, this report concludes that Australians are willing to be vaccinated and
given the increased use of the Pfizer vaccine, the biggest hurdle will likely be logistical issues.
Contents
1. Introduction: ....................................................................................................................................... 3
2. A Note on the Sample ........................................................................................................................ 3
3. Results................................................................................................................................................. 4
3.1. Health and COVID ........................................................................................................................ 4
3.2. Impact of COVID on Movement and Work ................................................................................ 5
3.3. Attitudes toward Government and COVID-19 Measures .......................................................... 6
3.4. Attitudes Towards Vaccination ................................................................................................... 7
4. Willingness to get Vaccinated ............................................................................................................ 7
5. Encouraging Vaccination .................................................................................................................. 10
6. Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................................. 11
Appendices ........................................................................................................................................... 14
A1. Notes on Data Cleaning ............................................................................................................. 14
A2. Attitudes towards Government Measures ............................................................................... 16
A3. Attitudes towards Vaccination .................................................................................................. 17
A4. Assessing Linearity for Regression ............................................................................................ 18
A5. Output for Initial Regression Model.......................................................................................... 22
A6. Output for Final Regression Model ........................................................................................... 25
A7. Correlation of Attitudes and Incentives for Vaccination .......................................................... 27
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1. Introduction:
The impact of COVID-19 has been seismic, virtually eliminating international travel, placing restrictions
on more general travel and activity patterns, with the economic impact being an approximate 3.5%
contraction in global GDP – the largest fall since the Second World War1. More recently, the discovery
of viable COVID-19 vaccinations has led to hope that some degree of normality might resume. Several
countries are approaching or have exceeded half of their population being vaccinated, but Australia
currently lags significantly behind with approximately 1.5% of the population fully vaccinated2.
A recent study discovered that about one-third of Australians said they were unlikely to get
vaccinated, with caution mostly expressed due to potential side effects and a lack of urgency given
Australia's low infection rates3. A separate survey found that while most people would get a safe and
effective vaccine, eight in 10 Australians were worried about possible side effects4. Indeed, prior to
the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization declared vaccine hesitancy to be one of the
top 10 threats to public health5.
However, the recent lockdowns in Victoria as a result of another chain of community transmission
emanating from a hotel quarantine breach, may have sharpened focus on the role of vaccinations.
Additionally, community concerns may also be heightened due to the fact that 75% of the country's
deaths have occurred in aged-care facilities6 resulting in Federal Government calls for the mandating
of COVID-19 vaccination for all staff working in residential aged care7.With the role of vaccination in
protecting at risk members of the community, along with the potential of avoiding future lockdowns
as a strategy for blunting chains of community transmission, this report examines attitudes towards
COVID-19 vaccination to discover what issues might exist in the choice to be vaccinated or not, and
how willingness to consider vaccination and/or be vaccinated can be increased.
2. A Note on the Sample
The survey was completed predominantly by students in MMGT6012, with some responses coming
from family and friends. The average age of respondents is 29.1 (σ = 12.1), 73% are in Australia (the
rest overseas, mainly China), 16% felt they were from a household of below average income, 37%
average and 47% from a household with an above average relative income. 67% of respondents are
female. Given the convenience sample that was used for recruitment, it is not surprising that the
sample is biased toward younger, tertiary educated respondents, and is disproportionately female in
composition. Caution should be used in extrapolating these results to a wider population, but for the
purposes of this project we will assume that recommendations can be made (with particular reference
to encouraging younger members of society to strongly consider vaccination for COVID-19)8.
3. Results
3.1. Health and COVID
As shown in Figure 1(a) & 1(b), respondents in the sample tend to be rank themselves as above
average health (though older respondents are significantly more likely to rank themselves as below
average9) and believe themselves to be well-informed about health and medical issues.
Figure: (1A): Reported Health and Level of Knowledge about (1B)Health and Medical Issues
When asked about the risk of COVID-19, perhaps again representing the predominance of younger
respondents in the sample who are located in Australia, on average the risk of contracting COVID-19
is perceived to be unlikely10, see Figure 2. Figure 3 shows the perceived risk of COVID-19 to health if
caught. Over the sample, the risk of COVID-19 on a respondent’s own health along with the impact on
the health of an average person is thought to be low as well (not significantly different from the
neutral point of the scale), however the risk of COVID-19 to the health of a family member or a loved
one is thought o be significant (the average of 6.4 on the ten-point scale is significantly larger than the
mid-point value of 5.511). Interestingly, the average impact of health varies significantly based on
location, with those overseas perceiving COVID-19 to be a significantly greater risk across all three
scales12.
Figure 2: Likelihood of Contracting COVID-19
9 Spearman’s Correlation = 0.385, sig = 0.000. Note that higher scores on scale equate to lower levels of health.
10 One sample t-test against fixed value of 5.5 (midpoint of scale): t = -7.85, sig. = 0.000.
11 One sample t-test against fixed value of 5.5 (midpoint of scale): t = 3.765, sig. = 0.000.
12 Independent samples t-test: Own (t = 4.08, sig = 0.000); Average (t = 4.91, sig = 0.000), Family (t = 2.39, sig = 0.000).