Vaccine hesitancy and related factors among South African adults in 2021: unpacking uncertainty versus unwillingness

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dc.date.accessioned 2023-12-06T13:01:30Z
dc.date.available 2023-12-06T13:01:30Z
dc.date.issued 2023-11-29 en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/22733
dc.description.abstract Amidst widespread public health recommendations and availability of COVID-19 vaccinations, half of South African adults are vaccinated against COVID-19. This study investigated the socio-behavioral determinants of vaccine hesitancy in South Africa, where vaccine hesitancy was separated into unwillingness and uncertainty to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Data was collected from a large-scale public survey during June- October 2021 that included online and telephonic surveys. Vaccination hesitancy was based on the question "When available, would you take the COVID 19 vaccine?," with responses categorized into those who were willing, unwilling, and uncertain about taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Multinomial regression examined the association between socio-behavioral variables and vaccine hesitancy. Overall, 73.8% reported they would definitely or probably take the vaccine, 16.4% were uncertain and 9.9% reported they probably or definitely would not (n = 16,988). Younger age, White and Colored population groups, no influenza vaccination history, previous vaccination refusal, knowing someone who experienced a serious vaccination side-effect, misperceptions about vaccine benefits, cultural or religious discouragement from taking a COVID-19 vaccination, lack of governmental confidence, concerns about side-effects, perceived lack of safety information, and lack of trust in the pharmaceutical industry and in the information from health care providers were all associated with higher odds of being uncertain and unwilling to take a COVID-19 vaccination. Strengths of association for unwillingness and uncertainty varied by the explanatory variables. Concern about effectiveness due to fast development was associated with uncertainty to take the vaccine but not with unwillingness. Concerns about side-effects had stronger associations with uncertainty than with unwillingness, while previous vaccine refusal, misperceptions of the protective benefits of vaccines, White population group, religious/cultural discouragement, and lack of trust in the pharmaceutical industry and health care providers' information had stronger associations with unwillingness than uncertainty. The determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy should be addressed in interventions to improve vaccine uptake. Public health interventions and health communication can be prioritized and tailored to the different forms of vaccination hesitancy. en
dc.format.medium Print en
dc.subject BACTERIAL AND VIRUS DISEASES en
dc.subject ADULTS en
dc.subject COVID-19 en
dc.subject IMMUNIZATION en
dc.subject PUBLIC OPINION en
dc.title Vaccine hesitancy and related factors among South African adults in 2021: unpacking uncertainty versus unwillingness en
dc.type Journal Article en
dc.description.version Y en
dc.ProjectNumber N/A en
dc.Volume November en
dc.BudgetYear 2023/24 en
dc.ResearchGroup Deputy CEO: Research en
dc.ResearchGroup Public Health, Societies and Belonging en
dc.SourceTitle Frontiers in Public Health en
dc.ArchiveNumber 9814126 en
dc.URL http://ktree.hsrc.ac.za/doc_read_all.php?docid=28051 en
dc.PageNumber Online en
dc.outputnumber 14783 en
dc.bibliographictitle Sewpaul, R., Sifunda, S., Gaida, R., Mokhele, T., Naidoo, I. & Reddy, P. (2023) Vaccine hesitancy and related factors among South African adults in 2021: unpacking uncertainty versus unwillingness. Frontiers in Public Health. November:Online. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/22733 en
dc.publicationyear 2023 en
dc.contributor.author1 Sewpaul, R. en
dc.contributor.author2 Sifunda, S. en
dc.contributor.author3 Gaida, R. en
dc.contributor.author4 Mokhele, T. en
dc.contributor.author5 Naidoo, I. en
dc.contributor.author6 Reddy, P. en


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