COVID-19 vaccinated but un-boosted Americans will respond favorably to targeted inducements, according to research based on a new public opinion survey.
The survey, which was administered by Distinguished Professor Kosali Simon of the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs along with researchers from Cornell University, was conducted just as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerged to assess the factors that affect individuals’ willingness to receive a vaccine booster.
As of August 2022, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports just over 48% of fully vaccinated Americans are estimated to have received a booster. Understanding the basis of attitudes toward boosters is critical to accelerate lagging public health campaigns, according to the researchers.
These are the key factors in booster shot acceptance identified by 548 fully vaccinated but not yet boosted participants in the survey:
- The effectiveness of the booster, its manufacturer and cash incentives all contribute to a positive decision. Moderna and Pfizer boosters were more desirable than those manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
- Information that the Omicron variant may be less lethal but more contagious also upped acceptance.
- Protection duration and protection against future variants proved to be less persuasive.
Although many surveys have focused on strategies to increase acceptance of the initial COVID-19 vaccine, this research project is thought to be one of the first to analyze the factors in booster shot acceptance.
It was conducted by Simon along with Cornell colleagues by Shyam Raman, Douglas Kriner, Nicholas Ziebarth, and Sarah Kreps. A peer-reviewed article – “COVID-19 booster uptake among US adults: Assessing the impact of vaccine attributes, incentives, and context in a choice-based experiment” – was published on August 15 by the journal Social Science & Medicine.
“We know little about why individuals would receive a booster compared to the initial willingness to vaccinate,” Raman said. “Because more variants will likely emerge and fewer than half of all eligible Americans have received even one booster shot, it’s important to understand what goes into that crucial decision.”
The survey was conducted in December 2021 as the vaccination rate was plateauing, evidence was mounting that initial vaccine immunity was waning and the new variant – Omicron – was emerging amid considerable scientific uncertainty about its scope and lethality.
Against that backdrop, participants in the survey said they would be most swayed by evidence of a booster shot’s effectiveness. If a booster shot were 50% effective, about half the participants would receive it. That climbed to 59% for a 70% effective booster and to 73% for a booster that was 90% effective.
Not surprisingly, a significant partisan divide persists even in the booster shot decision. Republicans remain skeptical of vaccination and hesitant about booster shots. The researchers call for continued targeted outreach to that group.
Leave a Reply