A global survey to understand general vaccine trust, COVID-19 and influenza vaccine confidence.

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the way that the world views vaccines. While safe and effective, COVID-19 vaccines were, and continue to be met with hesitancy and misinformation. We aimed to understand public perceptions and trust in COVID-19 vaccinations and how the pandemic has impacted perceptions of non-COVID-19 vaccines.

METHODS

Survey data were collected between August 7, 2023-August 16, 2023, from 7,000 respondents aged 18 years and older from the United States (n = 1,000); Nigeria (n = 1,000); United Kingdom (n = 1,000); France (n = 1,000); Canada (n = 1,000); Brazil (n = 1,000); and India (n = 1,000).

RESULTS

Trust in COVID-19 vaccines was highest in Brazil (84.6%) and India (80.4%) and lowest in the United States (63.5%) and France (55.0%). 47.5% of respondents agreed that they trust traditional protein-based vaccines more than mRNA vaccines, 13.5% disagree and 39.0% are neutral about their trust in protein-based versus mRNA vaccines. Overall, 53.9% of respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their perceptions of vaccines with half of these respondents (51.7%) reporting that the pandemic made them think that other vaccines are more important as they understand how critical vaccines can be at preventing serious illnesses.

DISCUSSION: These data can be used by health system decision makers, public health and researchers to understand how vaccine trust impacts perceptions of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines globally and develop tailored interventions that address local concerns.