Introduction
Methods
Design
Sampling and recruitment
Data collection and analysis
Results
N (%) | One dose: N = 35 (50%) | No dose: N = 35 (50%) |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Male | 21 (60%) | 10 (28%) |
Female | 14 (40%) | 23 (66%) |
Prefer not to say | 0 | 2 (6%) |
Age | ||
18–24 | 0 | 12 (34%) |
25–29 | 0 | 22 (63%) |
30–34 | 15 (43%) | 0 |
35–39 | 6 (17%) | 0 |
40–44 | 8 (23%) | 0 |
45–49 | 6 (17%) | 0 |
Prefer not to say | 0 | 1 (3%) |
Education | ||
Employed full time | 20 (57%) | 13 (37) |
Employed part time | 4 (11%) | 9 (26%) |
Full time education | 0 | 2 (6%) |
Unemployed | 4 (11%) | 3 (9%) |
Home maker | 2 (6%) | 1 (3%) |
Self employed | 3 (9%) | 0 |
Unable to work | 1 (3%) | 0 |
Prefer not to say | 1 (3%) | 4 (12%) |
Education | ||
Still in full time education | 0 | 2 (6%) |
Before finishing school | 0 | 0 |
After finishing school | 6 (17%) | 7 (20%) |
After finishing college | 10 (29%) | 11 (31%) |
After finishing university | 17 (49%) | 9 (26%) |
After postgraduate studies | 1 (3%) | 2 (6%) |
Prefer not to say | 1 (3%) | 4 (12%) |
Ethnicity | ||
White | 14 (40%) | 18 (51%) |
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups | 0 | 2 (6%) |
Asian/Asian British | 5 (14%) | 5 (14%) |
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British | 11 (31%) | 7 (20%) |
Other ethnic group | 5 (14%) | 1 (3%) |
Prefer not to say | 0 | 2 (6%) |
Vaccine | ||
Moderna | 7 (20%) | NA |
Pfizer | 21 (60%) | NA |
AstraZeneca | 7 (20%) | NA |
“I would say that what really motivated me was the fact that without the vaccine I would have the danger of the virus. Everyone was scared of the virus. There were some talks that it is the end of the world. Everyone was scared but it was a virus that spread to every part of the world that also caused more harm and danger there. So I think the fear of getting the virus motivated me to go and get the vaccine” (Vx011, received one dose).
“[Vaccination is] proven to be successful when a lot of people [are vaccinated], and the people it’s helping, especially, is obviously the older generation. I’m a lot less vulnerable than them, if I can help other people out by getting [the vaccine], so although I said that I decided to originally not get it, that has now changed. I will get it” (Nvx034, not vaccinated).
“The place that I work – I reached a point where it was prerequisite for you to be vaccinated and to show the record, and to indicate the evidence that you’ve been vaccinated before you are allowed to get into the job….I had no other choice but to get the vaccination” (Vx020, received one dose).
“I love my holidays so I was hearing that if you’re not vaccinated, you can’t go on holiday so that was the only reasons why I went and had it done… The only reason I would probably really have [a second dose] is because I want to go on holiday... that’s not really the right reasons to have it. It’s not like I think, ‘Oh, I’ve got to have it or else I might die.,’ it’s like, ‘Oh, I really wanna go on holiday and if the government’s saying the only way I can go is if I have this frigging vaccine” (Vx008, received one dose).
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2. Barriers to uptake of the vaccination
Perceived lack of benefit
“I just feel like I don’t need [the vaccine]… I suppose I’ve just heard that people have said it’s not necessary, you don’t really need it, that’s what I’ve heard from other people… so I just feel like it’s not necessary for me” (Nvx010, not vaccinated).
“Yes. I don’t really understand what the vaccine is going to do. Okay. It says it’s not going to hospitalise me, but then, it didn’t do that to me in the first place, and neither did it do anything to all the other of my friends who got it at the same time as me” (Nvx032, not vaccinated).“When they talk about the survival rate once you’ve contracted it, why are we vaccinating so much for something that survival rate’s something like 99% or 98% or something like this? That, to me, doesn’t add up” (Nvx002, not vaccinated).
“The protected, how can they need protection from the unvaccinated? That alone doesn’t make any sense. You’re either admitting that the vaccine doesn’t work or you’re basically just fully tyrannical” (Nvx029, not vaccinated).
Efficacy and effectiveness
“As I say, even if I had the vaccine I still might pass [the virus] on. I still might catch it. You just never know and that’s the thing” (Nvx015, not vaccinated).
“Well, we’ve looked at figures recently and statistics that show that lots of people who have had both jabs and are both double vaccinated are still in hospital with COVID. My [relatives] actually, she was double vaccinated but she still got COVID and she died two weeks later. So I don’t think they can sit here and say it’s 98% or 99% effective or whatever they’ve said the stupid high percentages are, because people are still getting COVID, whether they’ve got the vaccine or not, and people are still dying” (Nvx030, not vaccinated).
“Obviously, different strains are immune to the vaccine, or at least the vaccine’s not as strong against them, so I suppose I’m quite sceptical as to how the vaccines are working and whether or not it’s actually causing that much of an impact or whether it’s going to be a bit of an issue further down the line as [variants] become more and more immune” (vx018, received one dose).
“My main concern was obviously passing anything on to my wife because she still suffers with long COVID. However, having a vaccination doesn’t prevent you from getting the COVID and also it doesn’t prevent you from passing it on” (Vx009, received one dose).
“They sort of seem to have vaccinated 90% of the population, and now [the government are] talking about [further restrictions being implemented] in October. What was the point in that? I feel like [the vaccine’s] value has diminished somewhat. We’re going to vaccinate everyone by the end of July, and it was a really successful programme, but actually you’ve not really achieved anything from it” (Vx003, received one dose).
“A better vaccine [would encourage me to be vaccinated] I think, just a vaccine that does what I thought a vaccine did” (Nvx006, not vaccinated).
Safety concerns
“I am not completely against [vaccination], and potentially in a year’s time when I know that I have taken the time to do the research, and more research has been put into the vaccinations, I might be more than happy to have it. Right now, at this current time I am not willing to do it quite yet” (Nvx004, not vaccinated).
“I know [my friend’s] boyfriend, suffered from neurological problems and developed neurological issues where they’ve ended up in hospital, unable to walk. Just generally struggling with their mobility. Constant shakes. Not being able to look after themselves and having to have basically full-time care essentially. With no knowing if they’re ever going to fully recover…Yeah, it was all of them had it confirmed by the doctors, that it was a reaction to the vaccine” (Nvx022, not vaccinated).
“For me, it’s the long term of not knowing what it can do in the future. Although it can work now, would it have any effects on me in five years?... Just certain things have not been answered for me, so that’s why I’ve opted not” (Nvx025, not vaccinated).
“I was like, I’m not putting myself through that. I do dancing. That would screw me. I wouldn’t be able to dance anymore if that happened to me. I didn’t want to take the risk” (Nvx022, not vaccinated).
“Even if they said there was a hint of it [risk of infertility] I would probably – if it was like the tiniest, tiniest, like one in a million, that’s basically nothing, you would be very unlucky to get that one in a million... they’ve kind of made everyone insecure themselves by saying at the start it affects fertility” (Nvx008, not vaccinated).
“Well basically I had a condition called Protein C deficiency which means that in situations where you can be prone to clotting like pregnancy or any long-haul flights or anything I am more prone to getting blood clots” (Nvx033, not vaccinated).
“One of my Indian friends who got vaccinated here, when they went for their dose, the vaccinator told them that, ‘because you belong to a different nationality, we will keep a strict check on you because there is the possibility that you might get some serious side-effects as well,’ so I was just concerned about the same” (Nvx007, not vaccinated).
“You’ve seen the online clips of people who have maybe passed away after having the vaccine, or the people who have had adverse reactions. That freaks you out, because although they say it’s one in how many that could have that effect, what if you’re that one?” (Nvx025, not vaccinated).
Lack of opportunity
“I am planning on getting the vaccine. But it’s like every time I think oh I’ll go and get it, everywhere’ s closed! [laughs]” (Nvx017, not vaccinated).
“Actually I have a plan to go again [for a second dose], but my job is really taking up my time... I would like to think the second dosage should be more easy to go in person… it will give me another chance that I’m free from the danger of the virus” (Vx011, received one dose).
“I probably will. It’s more just a matter of convenience now. If I’m free that day, then I would, but if I have anything else to do, then I wouldn’t let that get in the way” (Vx034, received one dose).
“I think if there was a local walk-in centre in our area, I think a lot more people would get it done because I think our Asian community, they are a bit wary of getting it done. Once or twice there have been people talking about the vaccine going around our local market and I have mentioned it to them to say that, if you want more people to get jabbed you need something local for them to go to” (Vx029, received one dose).
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3. Assessing the risks and benefits
“I had concerns that there was not enough time to allow for any side-effects to actually happen. I thought that the vaccine was a bit rushed into, you know, being widely available. I do understand all the steps of trialling vaccines, I do understand that measures are taken to prevent for it to have widespread serious effects on people. So on balance I do think that there are more pros than there are cons on taking the vaccine” (Vx021, received one dose).
“I mean I’m 24 so I think there is more, I think the risks outweigh the benefits for me in my case, because I’m not vulnerable, so for me I don’t see the benefits because I mean if there is a vaccine and you’re 100% certain that you wouldn’t catch COVID, that you can’t transmit it, then maybe, I mean I think I would probably have” (Nvx013, not vaccinated).
“I feel like I’d be an experiment and I feel like the risk [from the vaccine] because it’s unknown… We currently don’t know what could happen or what effects [the vaccine] could have, and I think it’s the anxiety and actually guilt – I think one of the biggest things there is guilt of, you know, I feel kind of trapped, like if I don’t do it I’m potentially going to catch COVID which would also put my child at risk, but if I do do it, I could potentially cause her to have lifelong or even fatal consequences” (Nvx002, not vaccinated).
“Um, I was due to get my second dose last week and I didn’t, but I think I will get it. Um, I think I will get it but, yeah, I think, again, I kind of just need to bring myself back to that mindset of, like, it probably is better to have them both than it is to not have it at all or just have the one” (Vx007, received one dose).
Age and health status
“My main [reason] is for the fact that I am quite young, I am fit and healthy so I feel like I could fight pretty much illnesses well on my own” (Nvx004, not vaccinated).
“My parents had [the vaccine]. They’re elderly, they’re in their mid-50 s” (Nvx031, not vaccinated).
“As I’m quite young, I would wait at least three or four years [before being vaccinated] to be sure that the side-effects are very well recognised by the doctors and the scientists, and to be sure I’m not in – it’s a big word, but danger – to have a bad side effect which could be a problem for me in my job or in my life” (Nvx018, not vaccinated).
“I am only 26 and I am looking to try to have a family of my own. When the first wave of vaccinations come out it wasn’t safe for pregnant women to have it….What if I find out in five years’ time after I have tried for many, many years that I can’t conceive and it fell down to that?” (Nvx004, not vaccinated).
Understanding of science
“Yeah, so the efficiency of it, I guess, because they’ve talked about sort of, oh, you’re 70%, like the number was 70% after you’d had one jab… I assumed that meant you were 70% immune from it, and then when you had the second one you were like 95 or whatever, but then they’re like, oh no, you can still transmit it and you can still catch it and go to hospital, so I’m not sure whether it’s 95% reduced symptoms? I’m not really sure what those numbers refer to anymore” (Nvx006, not vaccinated).
“There’s not enough research. And I think how much research will go in – we’re talking years – will go in normally to figure out whether or not something’s safe. I feel like it’s just been quite rushed” (Nvx002, not vaccinated).
“I don’t know if these facts are actually true. Like, if you look at scientists, for example, they all have different opinions and none of those opinions are factual... there’s quite a few debates between one scientist the University of Cambridge and another scientist from Oxford. And you’ll notice that they don’t always agree. So, when I look at these stats, I think to myself, well, is this true?” (Vx032, received one dose).
“I like to see what’s in front me, and around me… So, I’m more about just physically myself seeing things, as opposed to being told it. Because can you trust it? I don’t know” (Nvx026, not vaccinated).
“Social media is where we hear a lot of the stories…Yes, that’s where we hear the majority of it, social media. The news, the young generation, they don’t necessarily listen to the news. Definitely my generation really don’t even listen to the news. It’s all on socials” (Nvx031, not vaccinated).
“If there are good stats on that then I’ll go with it, but all I’ve heard is like I was just saying, women can’t have it then they can, pregnant women can’t but now they can, kids can’t, it needs more clarification, it needs to be more clear for people. Because that’s what’s going to put a lot of people off by just saying things like that” (Nvx008, not vaccinated).
“I’d rather be given all the information and then make an informed decision, other than being given small bits of this, and then make a decision, and then get more information that then makes the previous decision that I made look a bit wonky, because I feel that [the government] [haven’t been] clear” (Vx031, received one dose).
“I mean I would be happy to take a vaccine once it’s not in trial anymore and that we have the full set of data” (Nvx013, not vaccinated).
(Mis)Trust in government handling of the pandemic
“I don’t believe half what they [the government] say anyway so it goes in one ear and out the other. Look how often we get lied to by the government about stuff, so I just think I can’t trust a word they say” (Vx008, received one dose).
“I think the whole way through this pandemic the government has been saying they’ll do this if people get vaccinated, this will start to change if this percentage is hit in certain age groups, and nothing is ever followed through” (Nvx030, not vaccinated).
“Why did [the government] take so long to lock down the country? Why did they take so long? Did they want more people to be infected?... Is that a promotion for more people to get ill and get vaccinated?” (Nvx021, not vaccinated).
“Is this all just a ploy to get us all home and under government control?” (Nvx035).“I think [the need for a third dose is] just ridiculous. They’re just trying to get more money. They get money per vaccination…. Next thing you know it’s going to be a case of people having to get it three / four times a year, just to keep [protection] up. I think that side of it is more just money grabbing, to be honest” (Nvx022, not vaccinated).
“I think all the information I’ve mainly seen is from like the BBC. So media outlets, or, I think NHS and stuff like that [is like] directly hearing from the government such as Boris” (Nvx027, not vaccinated).“Um, no, I don’t think [anything would encourage me to have the vaccine] because, I like to think that I trust my midwife, and my midwife’s telling me to have [the vaccine], but she’s only getting her information from the government so, again, no” (Vx008, received one dose).
Previous experiences and expectations
“I think [public health messages are] almost trying to scaremonger people and also completely false. I don’t know people my age that have been hospitalised from COVID but I do know people that have been hospitalised from the vaccine. They’re either getting their information very mixed up or someone’s paid them a lot of money to post that” (Nvx022, not vaccinated).
“I have a cousin who he's been vaccinated, and he just got COVID. Apparently if you have the jabs then your symptoms might not be as bad. But then I know, I've heard of people who have had it since they got vaccinated, and they've had really bad cases. So I don't know how true that is either” (Nvx019, not vaccinated).
“My partner has been ill until now and that really has been what has made me rethink my position… I just thought, “What if this happens to me?” I just thought I’m going to put it on hold and I haven’t really – for me it has just been the case of I am a lot more careful, I still wear a mask everywhere I go, I go out only when it’s needed. I haven’t taken the second dose because I am scared” (Vx021, received one dose).
“I don't think [the vaccine] is working very well, and the reason why I say that is because I don't think it's a vaccine. And I’m not medically trained or anything like that, but in my opinion, a vaccine is something that stops you from contracting something. And the Coronavirus vaccine does not stop you from contracting it, it actually stops the effects of it, doesn't it? Or lessens the effects of it” (Nvx020, not vaccinated).
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4. Potential impact of initiatives aiming to improve uptake on decision making
Incentives and reimbursements
“Frankly, I think it will be much easier if, like I said if it was easy to access places, rather than about the money. So you don’t have to take time off work” (Vx028, received one dose).
“Give it to those in the low-income rates. For those on high income rates, they are capable of getting the vaccine” (Vx012, received one dose).
“[Payment} would not make me more likely {to have a vaccine]. It would make me think, ‘Why are you bribing me to get it done?’” (Nvx025, not vaccinated).
“Where is that cost going to come from? Is it going to come out of my taxes? (Vx031, received one dose).
“If I’m just saying I don’t want to get vaccinated because it poses a risk to me. If you could bribe me with money, then that means that my fear of risk is not as deep rooted as I’m making it out to be if you can bribe me with a bit of money” (Nvx035, not vaccinated)
“I mean my favourite headline was ‘kebabs for jabs’…That’s also targeting, in a way, that kind of targets people who might be in really bad financial situations and really bad poverty. Like, oh if I go and get the jab, I can eat dinner tonight. It didn’t really sit right with me to be honest” (Nvx022, not vaccinated).
“I would much rather the money was spent on developing a vaccine that actually worked properly if that makes sense” (Nvx024, not vaccinated).
Vaccine passes
“It wouldn’t motivate me to [have a vaccine]. It would force me to [have a vaccine]” (Nvx035, not vaccinated).
“I’m totally against. As I’m French I’m very connected with how it is in France and it is very concerning for me, yeah, it is. Because we cannot force people to be vaccinated, to have a medical procedure” (Nvx018, not vaccinated).
“I know I will have it in order to travel but it doesn’t make me, I guess, look at the government in such a positive light” (Nvx027, not vaccinated).
“I have been extremely stressed. Extremely stressed. After I voiced how I feel about the potential risk, I think to be basically forced against your will, being told, ‘If you don’t, then you will lose your job’” (Nvx002, not vaccinated).
“I probably would just go, okay, I’ll crack on and have it then. But not because I think it will particularly protect me if I’m there, because apparently it won’t” (Vx003, received one dose).
“I think it makes me a lot less likely to get a vaccine, because then it makes me more paranoid about the conspiracy theories that I hear, and well, why are they forcing so many people to get it if they don't want to get it?... Yeah, I wouldn't agree with that, I think there'll be a huge uprising if they did that” (Nvx019, not vaccinated).