Effect of religious fatalism and concern about new variants on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines

Oscar Mamani-Benito; Rosa Farfán-Solís; Mariné Huayta-Meza; Madona Tito-Betancur; Wilter C Morales-García; Edison Effer Apaza Tarqui

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1071543

Effect of religious fatalism and concern about new variants on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 2:14:1071543. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1071543. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Oscar Mamani-Benito¹, Rosa Farfán-Solís², Mariné Huayta-Meza³, Madona Tito-Betancur⁴, Wilter C Morales-García⁵, Edison Effer Apaza Tarqui⁶

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Derecho y Humanidades, Universidad Señor de Sipán, Chiclayo, Peru.
² Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Puno, Peru.
³ Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales, Universidad Peruana Unión, Juliaca, Peru.
⁴ Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Tecnológica del Peru, Arequipa, Peru.
⁵ Unidad de Salud, Escuela de Posgrado, Universidad Peruana Unión, Lima, Peru.
⁶ Maestría en Ciencia de los Datos, Escuela de Posgrado, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru.

Abstract

Introduction: To protect public health, it is important that the population be vaccinated against COVID-19; however, certain factors can affect vaccine acceptance.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether religious fatalism and concern about new variants have a significant effect on the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines.

Methodology: An explanatory study was conducted with 403 adults of legal age captured through non-probabilistic convenience sampling in vaccination centers in the 13 health networks of the Regional Health Directorate of Puno, Peru. Data were collected through a brief scale of religious fatalism, a scale of acceptance of vaccines against COVID-19 and a scale of concern about a new variant of COVID-19.

Results: The proposed model obtained an adequate fit. There was a negative effect of religious fatalism on vaccine acceptance, a positive effect of fatalism on vaccine rejection, a positive effect of concern about new variants on the acceptance of vaccines, and a positive effect of concern about new variants on vaccine rejection.

Conclusion: These findings provide evidence for the usefulness of considering both religious fatalism and concern about new variants affect the intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in adults in southern Peru.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine; Peru; fatalism; religiosity; vaccine acceptance.