Reasons for non-vaccination: Parental vaccine hesitancy and the childhood influenza vaccination school pilot programme in England.

INTRODUCTION: In 2013, the annual influenza immunisation programme in England was extended to children to reduce the burden of influenza, but uptake was sub-optimal at 53.2%. AIM: To explore the reasons some parents decided not to vaccinate their child against influenza as part of the pilot programme offered in schools. METHODS: Cross-sectional qualitative study conducted between February and July 2015. 913 parents whose children were not vaccinated against influenza in the school pilots in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, England, were asked to comment on their reasons for non-vaccination and invited to take part in a semi-structured interview. 138 parents returned response forms, of which 38 were eligible and interested in participating and 25 were interviewed. Interview transcripts were coded by theme in NVivo. RESULTS: A third of parents who returned response forms had either vaccinated their child elsewhere, intended to have them vaccinated, or had not vaccinated them due to medical reasons (valid or perceived). Most interviewees were not convinced of the need to vaccinate their child against influenza. Parents expressed concerns about influenza vaccine effectiveness and vaccine side effects. Several parents interviewed declined the vaccine for faith reasons due to the presence of porcine gelatine in the vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: To significantly decrease the burden of influenza in England, influenza vaccination coverage in children needs to be >60%. Hence, it is important to understand the reasons why parents are not vaccinating their children, and to tailor the communication and immunisation programme accordingly. Our finding that a third of parents, who did not consent to their child being vaccinated as part of the school programme, had actually vaccinated their child elsewhere, intended to have their child vaccinated, or had not vaccinated them due to medical reasons, illustrates the importance of including additional questions or data sources when investigating under-vaccination

The benefit of the doubt or doubts over benefits? A systematic literature review of perceived risks of vaccines in European populations.

OBJECTIVES: The success of vaccination strategies depends in part on population perceptions of benefits and risks of vaccines and related confidence in vaccination. Better knowledge of public concerns about vaccines and what is driving them is needed to inform vaccination strategies and communications. This literature reviewer examined studies on vaccine and vaccination risk perceptions and concerns across European populations. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies published between 2004 and 2014 in Europe. A descriptive analysis was performed. FINDINGS: A total of 145 articles were selected, most of which were conducted in the UK, the Netherlands and France and studied seasonal influenza, HPV and pandemic influenza vaccination. Across all countries and vaccines, the primary area of concern was vaccine safety, followed by perceptions of low likelihood of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), perceived low severity of VPDs, beliefs that vaccines do not work, and overall lack of information. Concerns were found to be vaccine-, country- and population-specific. CONCLUSION: In addition to identifying concerns about vaccination in Europe, this study confirmed the notion that individuals have many safety concerns about vaccination and often believe that the risks of vaccination outweigh their benefits. More research needs to be conducted to explore the impact of different types of communication strategies, which would frame the benefits of vaccination as well as risks of not vaccinating. Strategies to better inform public perceptions of vaccines should include the provision of unbiased, comprehensive information tailored to population information needs, and delivered using multiple and new communication technologies such as social media

Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines hold promise to control the pandemic, and help restore normal social and economic life. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for 2 mRNA vaccines and will likely issue full biologics licenses in the coming months. Anticipating vaccine scarcity, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) published guidance on vaccine priorities.Data show 95% efficacy for vaccines granted an EUA, but even highly effective vaccines cannot curb the pandemic without high population coverage and maintenance of other mitigation strategies. Recent data from 1,676 adults surveyed November 30-December 8, 2020 found that when a COVID-19 vaccine is approved and widely available: 34% would get it as soon as possible; 39% would wait; 9% would only get it if required for work/school; 15% would definitely not get it. Black persons, at high risk of infection and hospitalization, are less likely to report vaccine intent with only 20% reporting they would get the vaccine soon and 52% intending to wait. Intent to vaccinate has changed substantially over time and is likely to evolve. In this JAMA Viewpoint, we examine whether vaccine mandates would be lawful and ethical, and whether they could boost vaccine uptake

Tracking the global spread of vaccine sentiments: the global response to Japan's suspension of its HPV vaccine recommendation.

UNLABELLED: In June 2013 the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) suspended its HPV vaccination recommendation after a series of highly publicized alleged adverse events following immunization stoked public doubts about the vaccine's safety. This paper examines the global spread of the news of Japan's HPV vaccine suspension through online media, and takes a retrospective look at non-Japanese media sources that were used to support those claiming HPV vaccine injury in Japan. METHODS: Two searches were conducted. One searched relevant content in an archive of Google Alerts on vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases. The second search was conducted using Google Search on January 6th 2014 and on July 18th 2014, using the keywords, "HPV vaccine Japan" and "cervical cancer vaccine Japan." Both searches were used as Google Searches render more (and some different) results than Google Alerts. RESULTS: Online media collected and analyzed totalled 57. Sixty 3 percent were published in the USA, 23% in Japan, 5% in the UK, 2% in France, 2% in Switzerland, 2% in the Philippines, 2% in Kenya and 2% in Denmark. The majority took a negative view of the HPV vaccine, the primary concern being vaccine safety. DISCUSSION: The news of Japan's suspension of the HPV vaccine recommendation has traveled globally through online media and social media networks, being applauded by anti-vaccination groups but not by the global scientific community. The longer the uncertainty around the Japanese HPV vaccine recommendation persists, the further the public concerns are likely to travel

Social consequences of mass quarantine during epidemics: a systematic review with implications for the COVID-19 response.

Four billion people worldwide have experienced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confinement. Such unprecedented extent of mobility restriction to curb the COVID-19 pandemic may have profound impacts on how individuals live, travel and retain well-being. This systematic review aims to identify (i) the social consequences of mass quarantine-community-wide movement restrictions-during previous and current infectious disease outbreaks and (ii) recommended strategies to mitigate the negative social implications of COVID-19 lockdowns. Considering social determinants of health, we conducted a systematic review by searching five databases (Ovid-MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the World Health Organization COVID-19 database) for publications from inception to 9 April 2020. No limitation was set on language, location or study type. Studies that (i) contained peer-reviewed original empirical evidence and (ii) focussed on non-epidemiological implications of mass quarantine were included. We thematically synthesized and reported data due to heterogeneous disease and country context. Of 3067 publications found, 15 original peer-reviewed articles were selected for full-text extraction. Psychological distress, heightened communication inequalities, food insecurity, economic challenges, diminished access to health care, alternative delivery of education and gender-based violence were identified as negative social consequences of community-based quarantine in six infectious disease epidemics, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, altruistic attitudes were identified as a positive consequence during previous quarantines. Diverse psychological and social consequences of mass quarantine in previous and current epidemics were evident, but individual country policies had been highly varied in how well they addressed the needs of affected individuals, especially those who are socially marginalized. Policymakers should balance the pros and cons of movement restrictions, facilitate multisectoral action to tackle social inequalities, provide clear and coherent guidance to the public and undertake time-bound policy evaluations to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and to establish preparedness strategies for future epidemics

Measuring vaccine confidence: introducing a global vaccine confidence index.

BACKGROUND: Public confidence in vaccination is vital to the success of immunisation programmes worldwide. Understanding the dynamics of vaccine confidence is therefore of great importance for global public health. Few published studies permit global comparisons of vaccination sentiments and behaviours against a common metric. This article presents the findings of a multi-country survey of confidence in vaccines and immunisation programmes in Georgia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom (UK) - these being the first results of a larger project to map vaccine confidence globally. METHODS: Data were collected from a sample of the general population and from those with children under 5 years old against a core set of confidence questions. All surveys were conducted in the relevant local-language in Georgia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the UK. We examine confidence in immunisation programmes as compared to confidence in other government health services, the relationships between confidence in the system and levels of vaccine hesitancy, reasons for vaccine hesitancy, ultimate vaccination decisions, and their variation based on country contexts and demographic factors. RESULTS: The numbers of respondents by country were: Georgia (n=1000); India (n=1259); Pakistan (n=2609); UK (n=2055); Nigerian households (n=12554); and Nigerian health providers (n=1272). The UK respondents with children under five years of age were more likely to hesitate to vaccinate, compared to other countries. Confidence in immunisation programmes was more closely associated with confidence in the broader health system in the UK (Spearman's ρ=0.5990), compared to Nigeria (ρ=0.5477), Pakistan (ρ=0.4491), and India (ρ=0.4240), all of which ranked confidence in immunisation programmes higher than confidence in the broader health system. Georgia had the highest rate of vaccine refusals (6 %) among those who reported initial hesitation. In all other countries surveyed most respondents who reported hesitating to vaccinate went on to receive the vaccine except in Kano state, Nigeria, where the percentage of those who ultimately refused vaccination after initially hesitating was as high as 76%) Reported reasons for hesitancy in all countries were classified under the domains of "confidence," "convenience," or "complacency," and confidence issues were found to be the primary driver of hesitancy in all countries surveyed

Exploratory study of the global intent to accept COVID-19 vaccinations.

Background: As the world begins the rollout of multiple COVID-19 vaccines, pandemic exit strategies hinge on widespread acceptance of these vaccines. In this study, we perform a large-scale global exploratory study to examine the levels of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and explore sociodemographic determinants of acceptance. Methods: Between October 31, 2020 and December 15, 2020, 26,759 individuals were surveyed across 32 countries via nationally representative survey designs. Bayesian methods are used to estimate COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and explore the sociodemographic determinants of uptake, as well as the link between self-reported health and faith in the government's handling of the pandemic and acceptance. Results: Here we show that intent to accept a COVID-19 vaccine is low in Lebanon, France, Croatia, and Serbia and there is population-level polarisation in acceptance in Poland and Pakistan. Averaged across all countries, being male, over 65, having a high level of education, and believing that the government is handling the pandemic well are associated with increased stated acceptance, but there are country-specific deviations. A belief that the government is handling the pandemic well in Brazil and the United States is associated with lower vaccination intent. In the United Kingdom, we find that approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020 did not appear to have an impact on the UK's vaccine acceptance, though as rollout has continued into 2021, the UK's uptake exceeds stated intent in large-scale surveys conducted before rollout. Conclusions: Identifying factors that may modulate uptake of novel COVID-19 vaccines can inform effective immunisation programmes and policies. Differential stated intent to accept vaccines between socio-demographic groups may yield insights into the specific causes of low confidence and may suggest and inform targeted communication policies to boost confidence

Volatility of vaccine confidence.

Last week, the European Medicines Agency declared the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safe and effective, after several European Union member states had suspended its use because of blood clot concerns. Will the public trust this message? This week's news could help—a U.S. phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine shows promising efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. But sentiments toward vaccines are volatile and reflect external events—such as recent concern about AstraZeneca's efficacy data—as well as internal emotions.</jats:p