Public Trust and Willingness to Vaccinate Against COVID-19 in the US From October 14, 2020, to March 29, 2021

May 24, 2021

Michael Daly, PhD; Andrew Jones, PhD; Eric Robinson, PhD.

JAMA Network

Daly et al. conducted a nationally representative quantitative study to evaluate the changes in public trust in vaccination and vaccine hesitancy among 7,420 participants following the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Over the course of the 5-month period, participants completed a total of 42,154 questionnaires measuring their likeliness to vaccinate, their trust in the government’s approval process for COVID-19 vaccines, and more generally for the development of other vaccines. The researchers found that vaccine hesitancy significantly declined overall across all demographics (10.8% decline) and were most prevalent among Hispanic and Black participants (15.8% and 20.9% decline, respectively). When compared to reports of public trust in vaccination during October 2020, there was an increase across all demographics by the end of the study period in March 2021. The results of this study indicated that a decrease in vaccine hesitancy was consistent with the national vaccine rollout and government’s approval of COVID-19 vaccines. Despite the decline in this study, vaccine hesitancy is still prevalent among minority groups who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This research serves as a stepping stone for opportunities to continue building public trust and support and identify the needs of marginalized communities to protect them from COVID-19.

Daly M, Jones A, Robinson E. Public Trust and Willingness to Vaccinate Against COVID-19 in the US From October 14, 2020, to March 29, 2021. JAMA 2021; published online May 24. DOI:10.1001/jama.2021.8246.

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