Assessing the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Chinese adults using a generalized vaccine hesitancy survey instrument

Figures & data

Table 1. Statistical description of study samples

Variables	N (%)
Total	2361 (100)
Gender
Male	942(39.90)
Female	1419 (61.10)
Age group, y
18–44	1845 (78.14)
45–59	369 (15.63)
>60	111(4.70)
Highest educational level
Primary school or below	68 (2.88)
middle school	186 (7.88)
College degree or above	2107 (89.24)
Region
Eastern China	421 (17.83)
Central China	1470 (62.26)
Western China	470 (19.91)
Employment status
Employed	1014 (42.95)
Unemployed	1347 (57.05)
Relative or friend has received a COVID-19 vaccine
Yes	589 (24.95)
No	1772 (75.05)
The primary way to get information about the COVID-19 vaccine
Traditional Media (Television, Radio and Newspapers)	1361 (57.65)
Emerging media (Weibo, WeChat and Interent news)	1000 (42.35)
Have paid attention to the policy, process and location of COVID-19 vaccination
Yes	1818 (77.00)
No	543 (23.00)
Have paid attention to the suitable and contraindicated population of COVID-19 vaccination
Yes	654 (27.83)
No	1704 (72.17)
Have paid attention to the development progress of COVID-19 vaccination
Yes	1238 (52.44)
No	1123 (47.56)
The COVID-19 has a large impact on your life
Strongly disagree	620 (26.26)
Disagree	964 (40.83)
Not sure	562 (23.80)
Agree	124 (5.25)
Strongly agree	91 (3.85)
Work exposure to COVID-19 at greater risk of infection
Strongly disagree	92 (3.90)
Disagree	633 (26.81)
Not sure	1073 (45.45)
Agree	321 (13.60)
Strongly agree	242 (10.25)
Support free vaccination for all people
Strongly disagree	606 (25.67)
Disagree	945 (40.03)
Not sure	640 (27.11)
Agree	120 (5.08)
Strongly agree	50 (2.12)

Figure 1. Distribution of answers to the 10 items of the vaccine hesitancy scale.

Table 2. Rotated EFA factor loading pattern and CFA standardized regression weights for 10-item scale

	EFA loadings (N = 2361)		CFA Standardized regression weights (N = 2361)
	VHS factor 1: lack of confidence	VHS factor 2: risks	VHS factor 1: lack of confidence	VHS factor 2: risks
Q1. COVID-19 vaccines are important for my health.	0.828	−0.063	0.791	NA
Q2. COVID-19 vaccines are effective.	0.896	−0.014	0.872	NA
Q3.Having COVID-19 vaccinated is important for the health of others in my community.	0.868	−0.01	0.84	NA
Q4.COVID-19 vaccines offered by the government programme in my community are beneficial.	0.878	0.001	0.855	NA
Q5. COVID-19 vaccines carry more risks than other vaccines.	−0.018	0.882	NA	0.865
Q6.The information I receive about the COVID-19 vaccines from the vaccine program is reliable and trustworthy.	0.883	−0.011	0.868	NA
Q7.Getting the COVID-19 vaccines is a good way to protect me from disease.	0.883	0.016	0.861	NA
Q8.I will do what my doctor or health care provider recommends about the COVID-19 vaccines.	0.877	0.023	0.808	NA
Q9.I am concerned about serious adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.	−0.001	0.914	NA	0.917
Q10.COVID-19 vaccines are not needed for diseases that are not common anymore.	−0.006	0.844	NA	0.723

EFA =  Exploratory Factor Analysis, CFA =  Confirmatory Factor Analysis, VHS =  Vaccine Hesitancy Scale.

Table 3. Associated factors with the lack of confidence in the need for the COVID-19 vaccine and aversion to the risk of side effects

Variables	VHS factor 1: lack of confidence					VHS factor 2: risks
	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	p	95%CI	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	p	95%CI
	β	SE	β			β	SE	β
Constant	24.129	1.084	–	<.001	22.005 ~ 26.252	6.279	0.486	–	<.001	5.326 ~ 7.232
Gender (Ref: Male)
Female	0.39	0.254	0.032	0.125	−0.108 ~ 0.888	−0.297	0.114	−0.053	0.009	−0.520 ~ −0.073
Age group, y (Ref: 18–44)
45–59	0.205	0.346	0.012	0.554	−0.473 ~ 0.882	−0.095	0.155	−0.013	0.541	−0.399 ~ 0.209
>60	0.291	0.53	0.012	0.582	−0.747 ~ 1.329	0.643	0.238	0.057	0.007	0.177 ~ 1.108
Highest educational level (Ref: Primary school or below)
middle school	1.507	0.864	0.067	0.081	−0.186 ~ 3.199	−0.757	0.388	−0.075	0.051	−1.517 ~ 0.003
College degree or above	0.36	0.753	0.018	0.633	−1.116 ~ 1.835	−0.542	0.338	−0.062	0.109	−1.204 ~ 0.121
Region (Ref: Eastern China)
Central China	−0.42	0.343	−0.034	0.22	−1.092 ~ 0.251	−0.153	0.154	−0.027	0.319	−0.455 ~ 0.148
Western China	−0.253	0.405	−0.017	0.532	−1.046 ~ 0.541	0.073	0.182	0.011	0.687	−0.283 ~ 0.429
Employment status (Ref: Employed)
Unemployed	−0.399	0.261	−0.033	0.127	−0.911 ~ 0.113	−0.257	0.117	−0.047	0.029	−0.486 ~ −0.027
Relative or friend has received a COVID-19 vaccine (Ref: Yes)
No	−0.268	0.287	−0.019	0.35	−0.830 ~ 0.294	0.354	0.129	0.056	0.006	0.102 ~ 0.607
The primary way to get information about the COVID-19 vaccine (Ref: Traditional Media)
Emerging media	0.094	0.311	0.008	0.762	−0.515 ~ 0.704	0.454	0.14	0.083	0.001	0.180 ~ 0.728
Have paid attention to the policy, process and location of COVID-19 vaccination (Ref: Yes)
No	−0.779	0.298	−0.054	0.009	−1.364 ~ −0.195	0.214	0.134	0.033	0.11	−0.048 ~ 0.476
Have paid attention to the suitable and contraindicated population of COVID-19 vaccination (Ref: Yes)
No	−0.13	0.284	−0.01	0.647	−0.688 ~ 0.427	0.482	0.128	0.08	<0.001	0.232 ~ 0.732
Have paid attention to the development progress of COVID-19 vaccination (Ref: Yes)
No	−0.589	0.309	−0.049	0.057	−1.194 ~ 0.016	−0.319	0.139	−0.059	0.021	−0.591 ~ −0.048
The COVID-19 have a large impact on your life (Ref: Strongly disagree)
Disagree	−0.011	0.311	−0.001	0.972	−0.621 ~ 0.599	0.017	0.14	0.003	0.903	−0.257 ~ 0.291
Not sure	−0.345	0.352	−0.024	0.327	−1.035 ~ 0.345	0.214	0.158	0.034	0.176	−0.096 ~ 0.523
Agree	0.764	0.594	0.028	0.198	−0.399 ~ 1.927	0.359	0.266	0.03	0.178	−0.163 ~ 0.882
Strongly agree	0.175	0.678	0.006	0.796	−1.154 ~ 1.505	0.305	0.304	0.022	0.317	−0.292 ~ 0.902
Work exposure to COVID-19 at greater risk of infection (Ref: Strongly disagree)
Disagree	1.529	0.676	0.112	0.024	0.204 ~ 2.853	0.162	0.303	0.026	0.594	−0.433 ~ 0.756
Not sure	2.084	0.66	0.172	0.002	0.790 ~ 3.378	0.278	0.296	0.051	0.349	−0.303 ~ 0.858
Agree	2.283	0.717	0.13	0.001	0.878 ~ 3.688	0.284	0.322	0.036	0.377	−0.346 ~ 0.915
Strongly agree	2.253	0.741	0.113	0.002	0.800 ~ 3.706	0.05	0.333	0.006	0.882	−0.603 ~ 0.702
Support free vaccination for all people (Ref: Strongly disagree)
Disagree	−0.12	0.313	−0.01	0.702	−0.734 ~ 0.494	0.088	0.141	0.016	0.532	−0.188 ~ 0.364
Not sure	0.438	0.341	0.032	0.199	−0.230 ~ 1.106	0.21	0.153	0.034	0.17	−0.090 ~ 0.510
Agree	2.309	0.601	0.084	<0.001	1.132 ~ 3.486	0.253	0.27	0.02	0.349	−0.276 ~ 0.781
Strongly agree	−0.814	0.887	−0.019	0.359	−2.553 ~ 0.924	0.077	0.398	0.004	0.846	−0.703 ~ 0.858

VHS =  Vaccine Hesitancy Scale

Data availability statement

Data may be made available by contacting the corresponding author.