Post-vaccination adverse reactions, decision regret, and willingness to pay for the booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers: A mediation analysis

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore the relationship between post-vaccination adverse reactions, decision regret, and willingness to pay (WTP) for the booster dose. An online survey was conducted in Taizhou, China. Questionnaires were completed by 1,085 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 1,054 (97.1%) have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Mediation analysis method was adopted. Our study presented that post-vaccination adverse reactions in HCWs could decrease their WTP for the booster dose. Of note, HCWs experienced adverse reactions after vaccination would more likely regret their previous vaccination decisions, which, in turn, further reduced their WTP for a booster shot. Decision regret mediated the relationship between adverse post-vaccination reactions and WTP for the booster dose. The findings implied inextricable relationships among post-vaccination adverse reactions, decision regret, and WTP of the booster dose. It suggested that these post-vaccination adverse reactions should be further incorporated into vaccine campaigns to improve vaccine intention and potentially increase willingness to pay for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

KEYWORDS:

• Healthcare workers
• willingness-to-pay
• vaccination adverse reaction
• decision regret
• COVID-19 booster vaccine

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank participants for their cooperation and support.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website at https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2022.2146964

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Author contributions

CW Luo, WC Jiang, and TH Tung conceived the idea, implemented the method, and drafted the manuscript. CW Luo and WC Jiang were responsible for the coding of the analyses. HX Chen and TH Tung designed the questionnaire. WC Jiang and HX Chen collected the data. All authors edited and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.