Attitudes of People Towards Covid-19 Booster Shots

Abstract

Background: To combat the deadly contagion of COVID-19, immunization campaigns were organized worldwide since late 2020. As the immunity provided by vaccines wanes over time and new strains of the deadly virus kept on emerging, further adding up to the concerns of the public regarding the efficacy of vaccines, booster doses were direly needed. Just similar to the one faced with vaccines, the phenomenon of hesitancy was encountered regarding boosters, but this time with even more intensity. This study aims to assess people's opinions toward COVID-19 booster doses, including the causes of acceptance or reluctance. Methodology: Articles published in PubMed, Google Scholar, and MDPI in the English language were peer-reviewed in July-August, 2022. The search yielded a total of 116 articles, and after assessing, a total of 28 relevant studies were eligible to comprise this review. Results: These studies comprised surveys on data about the attitudes of the public on COVID-19 booster doses from 22 different countries. The highest rates of acceptance of Booster doses (>90%) among the common people were found in 3 studies conducted in Fukushima, Japan (97.9%), China (93.7%), and the UK (92.3%) while the lowest rates (< 60%) were obtained from 5 studies conducted in Indonesia (56.3%), USA (53%), Algeria (51.6%), Jordon (44%), and Malaysia (43%). Among the three studies conducted among the university community, Booster Acceptance rates were greater than 70% with the highest being in Germany (87.8%), followed by Italy (85.7%) and UAE (77%). For the three studies conducted on Health Care Workers (HCWs), the highest acceptance was found in the USA (92.1%) followed by Singapore (73.8%) and Czechiaa (71.3%). Conclusion: Factors such as uncertainty— about the government, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and the product itself, fear of adverse effects, religious and cultural beliefs, conspiracy theories, political affiliations, lower socioeconomic status, and unemployment all contributed to hesitance.