COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Israel Immediately Before the Vaccine Operation

Abstract

The development of a vaccine for COVID-19 presented hope for a way out of the global crisis caused by the virus. However, a potential barrier may be vaccine hesitancy, and identifying the factors that affect it is critical, especially concerning a new vaccine technology. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that effects vaccine hesitancy by using a holistic view. The data were collected from 504 people in December 2020, 3 days before the vaccine operation started in Israel. The analysis included three categories of determinants: (1) contextual influences; (2) health records; and (3) perceived health attitudes. The results indicate that different sets of variables affect willingness to accept the vaccine among the whole spectrum of the vaccine-hesitant and the undecided subsample. In the full sample, gender, age, income, influenza vaccine, perceived trust, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers affected vaccine acceptance. The perceived level of suffering from COVID-19 was associated with willingness to vaccinate, and when religious beliefs increased, the intention to vaccinate decreased. For the undecided subsample, the factors included gender, influenza vaccine, trust in the vaccine company, and perceived vaccine benefits and barriers. The results suggest that efforts of governments and health institutions should focus on women and highlight the vaccine as an opportunity to "go back to normal" without worries. Those results will help implement vaccine strategy in the following cases: if infant vaccination is pursued and if emergency vaccines or new vaccine technologies emerge for another pandemic as well.

Keywords: COVID-19; Demographic; Health Belief Model; Influenza Vaccine; Vaccine Hesitancy.