COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across the European continent

Fiona Sammut; David Suda; Mark Anthony Caruana; Olga Bogolyubova

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18903

COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across the European continent

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 6;9(8):e18903. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18903. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Fiona Sammut¹, David Suda¹, Mark Anthony Caruana¹, Olga Bogolyubova^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Statistics & Operations Research, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
² Department of Psychology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
³ Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University, the Netherlands.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the predictors of COVID-19 vaccination attitudes across multiple waves in seven countries geographically spread across the European continent, using data from a COVID-19 survey provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology COVID-19. Facebook users from across the globe participated in this survey which collected information on their knowledge of COVID-19, attitudes towards risk and available information, and their willingness or lack thereof to take the vaccine. In this secondary data analysis study, neural networks were used with special attention given to the importance of the predictors of COVID-19 vaccination attitudes. Perception of social norms regarding COVID-19 vaccination was found to be the most important predictor of vaccine acceptance. Country of residence and wave of data collection were among the important predictors, with different patterns for each country emerging across different waves. Other strong predictors included attitudes towards masks and mask wearing; attitudes towards the influenza vaccine; distrust in government health authorities and scientists; and level of knowledge of existing treatments for COVID-19. The results of this study can inform effective public health prevention and intervention efforts against infectious diseases.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccination; Pandemic; Vaccine acceptance; Vaccine hesitancy.