Patterns and influencing factors of COVID-19 vaccination willingness among college students in China

Xi-Mei Zhu; Wei Yan; Jie Sun; Lin Liu; Yi-Miao Zhao; Yong-Bo Zheng; Jian-Yu Que; Si-Wei Sun; Yi-Miao Gong; Na Zeng; Kai Yuan; Le Shi; Yan-Kun Sun; Sui-Huai Guo; Yu Lu; Mao-Sheng Ran; Samuel Yeung Shan Wong; Jie Shi; Zheng-Dong Jiang; Yan-Ping Bao; Lin Lu

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.04.013

Patterns and influencing factors of COVID-19 vaccination willingness among college students in China

Vaccine. 2022 May 11;40(22):3046-3054. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.04.013. Epub 2022 Apr 11.

Authors

Xi-Mei Zhu¹, Wei Yan¹, Jie Sun², Lin Liu³, Yi-Miao Zhao³, Yong-Bo Zheng⁴, Jian-Yu Que¹, Si-Wei Sun¹, Yi-Miao Gong⁴, Na Zeng³, Kai Yuan¹, Le Shi¹, Yan-Kun Sun¹, Sui-Huai Guo⁵, Yu Lu⁵, Mao-Sheng Ran⁶, Samuel Yeung Shan Wong⁷, Jie Shi⁸, Zheng-Dong Jiang⁵, Yan-Ping Bao³, Lin Lu⁹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
² Center for Pain Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China.
³ National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁴ Institute of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences and PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁵ Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁶ Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁷ JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
⁸ National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁹ Institute of Mental Health, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; National Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences and PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: linlu@bjmu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Background: Vaccination is an important preventive measure against the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to examine the willingness to vaccination and influencing factors among college students in China.

Methods: From March 18 to April 26, 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey among college students from 30 universities in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The survey was composed of the sociodemographic information, psychological status, experience during pandemic, the willingness of vaccination and related information. Students' attitudes towards vaccination were classified as 'vaccine acceptance', 'vaccine hesitancy', and 'vaccine resistance'. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the influencing factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and resistance.

Results: Among 23,143 students who completed the survey, a total of 22,660 participants were included in the final analysis with an effective rate of 97.9% after excluding invalid questionnaires. A total of 60.6% of participants would be willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine, 33.4% were hesitant to vaccination, and 6.0% were resistant to vaccination. Social media platforms and government agencies were the main sources of information vaccination. Worry about the efficacy and adverse effects of vaccine were the top two common reason of vaccine hesitancy and resistance. Multiple multinomial logistic regression analysis identified that participants who worried about the adverse effects of vaccination were more likely to be vaccine hesitancy (aOR = 2.44, 95% CI = 2.30, 2.58) and resistance (aOR = 2.71, 95% CI = 2.40, 3.05).

Conclusion: More than half of college students are willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas nearly one-third college students are still hesitant or resistant. It is crucial to provide sufficient and scientific information on the efficacy and safety of vaccine through social media and government agencies platforms to promote vaccine progress against COVID-19 and control the pandemic in China.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccine; China; College students; Willingness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
China
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Students
Vaccination
Vaccines*

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
Vaccines