Confidence in vaccines has declined “significantly” since the start of the pandemic, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth carried out two anonymous surveys in the winters of 2019 and 2022 to gauge people’s attitudes to vaccinations and to look at what factors cause hesitancy and refusal.
After questioning more than 1,000 adults, they found that the post-pandemic group was considerably less confident in vaccines than in the pre-pandemic group. The paper, published in the medical journal Vaccine, showed a fall in confidence of nearly one in four participants since 2020, regardless of their age, gender, religious belief, education or ethnicity.
Dr Alessandro Siani, associate head of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Portsmouth, said: “While vaccine hesitancy is not a new phenomenon, Covid-19 vaccines have been met with particular hostility despite the overwhelming scientific evidence of their safety and effectiveness. This isn’t just among conspiracy theorists though, but also those who don’t consider themselves ‘anti-vaxxers’ and had supported other vaccination campaigns in the past.”
