An online survey of the attitude and willingness of Chinese adults to receive COVID-19 vaccination

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of various populations by willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in China

Variables	N%	Willingness to receive vaccine		P
		Yes N (%)	No and unsure N (%)
Whole sample	3195 (100.0)	2676 (83.8)	519 (16.2)
Gender
Male	1163 (36.4)	991 (85.2)	172 (14.8)	0.092
Female	2032 (63.6)	1685 (82.9)	347 (17.1)
Age
18–25	1503 (47.1)	1282 (85.3)	221 (14.7)	0.049*
26–44	1260 (39.4)	1045 (82.9)	215 (17.1)
≥45	432 (13.5)	349 (80.8)	83 (19.2)
Ethnicity
The Han nationality	3048 (95.4)	2564 (84.1)	484 (15.9)	0.011*
Other	147 (4.6)	112 (76.2)	35 (23.8)
Educational level
≤High school	342 (10.7)	301 (88.0)	41 (12.0)	<0.001*
Bachelor	1812 (56.7)	1540 (85.0)	272 (15.0)
Master and above	1041 (32.6)	835 (80.2)	206 (19.8)
Occupation
Students	1320 (41.3)	1130 (85.6)	190 (14.4)	0.33
Company employees	440 (13.8)	356 (83.0)	75 (17.0)
Professional technicians	404 (12.6)	325 (80.4)	79 (19.6)
Health care professionals	345 (10.8)	284 (82.3)	61 (17.7)
Public servants	252 (7.9)	206 (81.7)	46 (18.3)
Freelancers	229 (7.2)	194 (84.7)	35 (15.3)
Self-employed	106 (3.3)	90 (84.9)	16 (15.1)
Retirees	67 (2.1)	54 (80.6)	13 (19.4)
Others	32 (1.0)	28 (87.5)	4 (12.5)
Monthly income
<2000 RMB	1071 (33.5)	918 (85.7)	153 (14.3)	0.035*
2001–5000 RMB	871 (27.3)	723 (83.0)	148 (17.0)
5001–10000 RMB	581 (18.2)	495 (85.2)	86 (14.8)
10001–20000 RMB	429 (13.4)	342 (79.7)	87 (20.3)
>20000 RMB	243 (7.6)	198 (81.5)	45 (18.5)
Health
Good	2811 (88.0)	2366 (84.2)	445 (15.8)	0.214
General	371 (11.6)	300 (80.9)	71 (19.1)
Poor	13 (0.4)	10 (76.9)	3 (23.1)
Chronic disease or not
Yes	333 (10.4)	66 (19.8)	267 (80.2)	0.062
No	2862 (89.6)	453 (15.8)	2409 (84.2)

Figure 1. Distribution of the responses to ten items of the vaccine hesitancy scale (VHS) in China

To determine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination willingness and vaccine hesitancy, ten items of the VHS were analyzed, as shown in above figure. These items were developed by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group on Experts (SAGE) Working Group. To improve the credibility of this scale, several reversed questions were added, and the values of these questions (marked with *) were flipped when analyzing them. As a result, all the indicated higher scores represented a more negative attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination in this Figure.

Table 2. Total values of VHS measures by intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

Scale	Willing to be vaccinated		Unsure and unwilling to be vaccinated		t test (P value)	Cohen’s d
	N	M (SD)	N	M (SD)
Lack of confidence	2676	1.77 (0.59)	519	2.60 (0.76)	<0.001	1.12
Complacency	2676	1.72 (0.90)	519	2.57 (0.98)	<0.001	0.88
Risk	2676	2.77 (0.97)	519	3.50 (0.98)	<0.001	0.75

Table 3. Participants’ attitudes toward COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines

			Willingness to receive vaccine
Variable	Classification	N (%)	Yes N (%)	No and unsure N (%)	P
Views on COVID-19	Serious	1767 (55.3)	1524 (86.2)	243 (13.8)	<0.001
	Moderate	1375 (43.0)	1115 (81.1)	260 (18.9)
	Mild and no idea	53 (1.7)	37 (69.8)	16 (30.2)
Worry degree of COVID-19	Very worried	807 (25.3)	727 (90.1)	80 (9.9)	<0.001
	Somewhat worried	1640 (51.3)	1369 (83.5)	271 (16.5)
	A little worried	649 (20.3)	510 (78.6)	139 (21.4)
	Not at all	99 (3.1)	70 (70.7)	29 (29.3)
Attention frequency	Often	1290 (40.4)	1164 (90.2)	126 (9.8)	<0.001
	Sometimes	1573 (49.2)	1292 (82.1)	281 (17.9)
	Rarely	294 (9.2)	201 (68.4)	93 (31.6)
	Never	38 (1.2)	19 (50.0)	19 (50.0)
Maximum affordable price	Free	605 (18.9)	490 (81.0)	115 (19.0)	0.054
	1–100 RMB	898 (28.1)	766 (85.3)	132 (14.7)
	101–500 RMB	1218 (38.1)	1017 (83.5)	201 (16.5)
	501–1000 RMB	302 (9.5)	265 (87.7)	37 (12.3)
	1001–2000 RMB	101 (3.2)	79 (78.2)	22 (16.9)
	>2000 RMB	71 (2.2)	59 (83.1)	12 (16.9)
Priority vaccination population	Health care professionals and other high-risk groups	1386 (43.4)	1186 (85.6)	200 (14.4)	<0.001
	Elderly and other susceptible groups	528 (16.5)	439 (83.1)	89 (16.9)
	No distinction and voluntary	1032 (32.3)	819 (79.4)	213 (20.6)
	No distinction and mandatory for all	225 (7.0)	217 (96.4)	8 (3.6)
	Other	24 (0.8)	15 (62.5)	9 (37.5)
Time to market of vaccine	Within half a year	505 (15.8)	446 (88.3)	59 (11.7)	<0.001
	6 months – 1 year	1475 (46.2)	1287 (87.3)	188 (12.7)
	1–5 years	868 (27.2)	680 (78.3)	188 (21.7)
	> 5 years	49 (1.5)	32 (65.3)	17 (34.7)
	I do not know	298 (9.3)	231 (77.5)	67 (22.5)

Table 4. Logistic regression to identify factors affecting vaccination willingness of various populations

		Unadjusted odds ratio			Adjusted odds ratio
Variables	Classification	OR^a	95%CI	P	aOR^b	95%CI	P
VHS	Lack of confidence	0.16	0.14–0.19	<0.001	0.22	0.18–0.27	<0.001
	Complacency	0.45	0.40–0.49	<0.001	0.58	0.52–0.66	<0.001
	Risks	0.46	0.41–0.51	<0.001	0.53	0.46–0.60	<0.001
Attitudes and behavior
Views on COVID-19	More perceived COVID-19 severity	1.50	1.24–1.82	<0.001	1.09	0.86–1.37	0.48
Worry degree of COVID-19	More worried about infection	1.73	1.41–2.12	<0.001	1.14	0.87–1.48	0.35
Attention frequency	More attention	3.07	2.39–3.95	<0.001	2.11	1.52–2.92	<0.001
Sociodemographic characteristics
Gender	Male	1.19	0.97–1.45	0.092	1.35	1.05–1.74	0.019
	Female	Ref			Ref
Age	18–25	1.38	1.04–1.82	0.024	1.17	0.74–1.90	0.52
	26–44	1.16	0.87–1.53	0.31	1.11	0.70–1.65	0.63
	≥45	Ref			Ref
Ethnicity	The Han nationality	1.66	1.12–2.45	0.012	1.96	1.21–3.17	0.007
	Other	Ref			Ref
Educational level	High school and below	1.81	1.26–2.60	0.001	2.19	1.22–3.91	0.009
	Bachelor	1.40	1.14–1.71	0.001	1.22	0.92–1.62	0.17
	Master and above	Ref			Ref
Occupation	Students	1.28	0.93–1.75	0.13	1.14	0.72–1.90	0.59
	Company employees	1.05	0.72–1.52	0.82	0.98	0.61–1.62	0.92
	Professional technicians	0.88	0.61–1.28	0.51	0.75	0.47–1.19	0.22
	Health care professionals	Ref			Ref
	Public servants	0.96	0.63–1.47	0.86	0.96	0.56–1.63	0.88
	Freelancers	1.19	0.76–1.88	0.45	1.07	0.58–1.97	0.84
	Self-employed	1.21	0.66–2.20	0.54	0.80	0.34–1.86	0.60
	Retirees	0.89	0.46–1.74	0.74	0.70	0.28–1.75	0.45
	Others	1.50	0.51–4.44	0.46	1.32	0.39–4.46	0.65
Monthly income	<2000 RMB	1.36	0.95–1.97	0.10	0.63	0.34–1.14	0.13
	2001–5000 RMB	1.11	0.77–1.61	0.58	0.54	0.31–0.91	0.022
	5001–10000 RMB	1.31	0.88–1.95	0.18	0.85	0.50–1.97	0.53
	10001–20000 RMB	0.89	0.60–1.33	0.58	0.77	0.46–1.29	0.32
	>20000 RMB	Ref			Ref
Health	Good	1.60	0.44–5.82	0.48	0.84	0.09–7.43	0.87
	General	1.27	0.34–4.73	0.72	0.87	0.10–7.87	0.90
	Poor	Ref			Ref
Chronic disease or not	Yes	0.76	0.57–1.01	0.062	0.80	0.54–1.16	0.24
	No	Ref			Ref

OR, odds ratio; ^a Unadjusted odds ratio, ^b Adjusted odds ratio; The following variables were included in the multivariate logistic regression model: lack of confidence, complacency, risks, attention frequency, gender, ethnicity, educational level.