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Low covid-19 vaccine acceptance is correlated with conspiracy beliefs among university students in Jordan

Sallam, Malik LU ; Dababseh, Deema ; Eid, Huda ; Hasan, Hanan ; Taim, Duaa ; Al-Mahzoum, Kholoud ; Al-Haidar, Ayat ; Yaseen, Alaa ; Ababneh, Nidaa A. and Assaf, Areej , et al. (2021) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(5).
Abstract

Vaccination to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a promising measure to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic. Since university students could be considered a knowledgeable group, this study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among this group in Jordan. Additionally, we aimed to examine the association between vaccine conspiracy beliefs and vaccine hesitancy. We used an online survey conducted in January 2021 with a chain-referral sampling approach. Conspiracy beliefs were evaluated using the validated Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (VCBS), with higher scores implying embrace of conspiracies. A total of 1106 respondents completed the survey with female predominance (n = 802, 72.5%). The... (More)

Vaccination to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a promising measure to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic. Since university students could be considered a knowledgeable group, this study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among this group in Jordan. Additionally, we aimed to examine the association between vaccine conspiracy beliefs and vaccine hesitancy. We used an online survey conducted in January 2021 with a chain-referral sampling approach. Conspiracy beliefs were evaluated using the validated Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (VCBS), with higher scores implying embrace of conspiracies. A total of 1106 respondents completed the survey with female predominance (n = 802, 72.5%). The intention to get COVID-19 vaccines was low: 34.9% (yes) compared to 39.6% (no) and 25.5% (maybe). Higher rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were seen among males (42.1%) and students at Health Schools (43.5%). A Low rate of influenza vaccine acceptance was seen as well (28.8%), in addition to 18.6% of respondents being anti-vaccination altogether. A significantly higher VCBS score was correlated with reluctance to get the vaccine (p <0.001). Dependence on social media platforms was significantly associated with lower intention to get COVID-19 vaccines (19.8%) compared to dependence on medical doctors, scientists, and scientific journals (47.2%, p <0.001). The results of this study showed the high prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its association with conspiracy beliefs among university students in Jordan. The implementation of targeted actions to increase the awareness of such a group is highly recommended. This includes educational programs to disman-tle vaccine conspiracy beliefs and awareness campaigns to build recognition of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Anti-vaxxer, Compulsory vaccination, Influenza vaccine, Intention to vaccinate, Misinformation, Vaccine coverage
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
18
issue
5
article number
2407
pages
14 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:33804558
  • scopus:85101695665
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18052407
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
14d0e082-3ecd-4039-a389-875212e06914
date added to LUP
2021-03-15 13:25:28
date last changed
2024-03-21 03:26:30
@article{14d0e082-3ecd-4039-a389-875212e06914,
  abstract     = {{<p>Vaccination to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged as a promising measure to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic. Since university students could be considered a knowledgeable group, this study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among this group in Jordan. Additionally, we aimed to examine the association between vaccine conspiracy beliefs and vaccine hesitancy. We used an online survey conducted in January 2021 with a chain-referral sampling approach. Conspiracy beliefs were evaluated using the validated Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale (VCBS), with higher scores implying embrace of conspiracies. A total of 1106 respondents completed the survey with female predominance (n = 802, 72.5%). The intention to get COVID-19 vaccines was low: 34.9% (yes) compared to 39.6% (no) and 25.5% (maybe). Higher rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were seen among males (42.1%) and students at Health Schools (43.5%). A Low rate of influenza vaccine acceptance was seen as well (28.8%), in addition to 18.6% of respondents being anti-vaccination altogether. A significantly higher VCBS score was correlated with reluctance to get the vaccine (p &lt;0.001). Dependence on social media platforms was significantly associated with lower intention to get COVID-19 vaccines (19.8%) compared to dependence on medical doctors, scientists, and scientific journals (47.2%, p &lt;0.001). The results of this study showed the high prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its association with conspiracy beliefs among university students in Jordan. The implementation of targeted actions to increase the awareness of such a group is highly recommended. This includes educational programs to disman-tle vaccine conspiracy beliefs and awareness campaigns to build recognition of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sallam, Malik and Dababseh, Deema and Eid, Huda and Hasan, Hanan and Taim, Duaa and Al-Mahzoum, Kholoud and Al-Haidar, Ayat and Yaseen, Alaa and Ababneh, Nidaa A. and Assaf, Areej and Bakri, Faris G. and Matar, Suzan and Mahafzah, Azmi}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{Anti-vaxxer; Compulsory vaccination; Influenza vaccine; Intention to vaccinate; Misinformation; Vaccine coverage}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{Low covid-19 vaccine acceptance is correlated with conspiracy beliefs among university students in Jordan}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052407}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph18052407}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}