TY - JOUR
T1 - Anticipating hopes, fears and expectations towards COVID-19 vaccines
T2 - A qualitative interview study in seven European countries
AU - Paul, Katharina T.
AU - Zimmermann, Bettina M.
AU - Corsico, Paolo
AU - Fiske, Amelia
AU - Geiger, Susi
AU - Johnson, Stephanie
AU - Kuiper, Janneke M.L.
AU - Lievevrouw, Elisa
AU - Marelli, Luca
AU - Prainsack, Barbara
AU - Spahl, Wanda
AU - Van Hoyweghen, Ine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Vaccine uptake is essential to managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine hesitancy is a persistent concern. At the same time, both decision-makers and the general population have high hopes for COVID-19 vaccination. Drawing from qualitative interview data collected in October 2020 as part of the pan-European SolPan study, this study explores early and anticipatory expectations, hopes and fears regarding COVID-19 vaccination across seven European countries. We find that stances towards COVID-19 vaccines were shaped by personal lived experiences, but participants also aligned personal and communal interests in their considerations. Trust, particularly in expert institutions, was an important prerequisite for vaccine acceptance, but participants also expressed doubts about the rapid vaccine development process. Our findings emphasise the need to move beyond the study of factors driving vaccine hesitancy, and instead to focus on how people personally perceive vaccination in their particular social and political context.
AB - Vaccine uptake is essential to managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine hesitancy is a persistent concern. At the same time, both decision-makers and the general population have high hopes for COVID-19 vaccination. Drawing from qualitative interview data collected in October 2020 as part of the pan-European SolPan study, this study explores early and anticipatory expectations, hopes and fears regarding COVID-19 vaccination across seven European countries. We find that stances towards COVID-19 vaccines were shaped by personal lived experiences, but participants also aligned personal and communal interests in their considerations. Trust, particularly in expert institutions, was an important prerequisite for vaccine acceptance, but participants also expressed doubts about the rapid vaccine development process. Our findings emphasise the need to move beyond the study of factors driving vaccine hesitancy, and instead to focus on how people personally perceive vaccination in their particular social and political context.
KW - Europe
KW - Pandemic
KW - Qualitative research
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Vaccination policy
KW - Vaccine hesitancy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125149490&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2021.100035
DO - 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2021.100035
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 35013736
AN - SCOPUS:85125149490
SN - 2667-3215
VL - 2
JO - SSM - Qualitative Research in Health
JF - SSM - Qualitative Research in Health
M1 - 100035
ER -