Change in intention and hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccines in a cohort of adults in Quebec during the pandemic

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents who had not or a low vaccination intention at period 1 according to their vaccinal status at period 2.

		Vaccination status at Period 2
		Vaccinated 2-doses (N=1,476)	Unvaccinated (N=438)	Total (N=1,914)
Variables	Categories	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)
Gender	Male	628 (42.6)	206 (47.0)	834 (43.6)
	Female	848 (57.5)	232 (53.0)	1080 (56.4)
Age	18–34	416 (28.2)	130 (29.7)	546 (28.5)
	35–49	489 (33.1)	161 (36.8)	650 (34.0)
	50–64	482 (25.8)	101 (23.1)	482 (25.2)
	≥65	190 (12.9)	46 (10.5)	236 (12.3)
Student status	In school	173 (11.7)	38 (8.7)	211 (11.0)
Immigrant status	Not born in Canada	199 (13.6)	55 (12.6)	254 (13.3)
Household	Person living alone	351 (23.8)	118 (26.9)	469 (24.5)
	Presence of children	432 (29.3)	146 (33.3)	578 (30.2)
	No children	1044 (70.7)	292 (66.7)	1336 (69.8)
Education	Highschool or less	434 (29.4)	147 (33.8)	581 (30.4)
	College	531 (36.0)	156 (35.9)	687 (35.9)
	University	509 (34.5)	132 (30.3)	641 (33.5)
Geographical area of residence (n with missing value = 163)	CMA of Montréal	611 (41.4)	158 (36.1)	769 (40.2)
	Other CMA	310 (21.0)	64 (14.6)	374 (19.5)
	Cities of 10,000 to 100,000	192 (13.0)	52 (11.9)	244 (12.7)
	Small towns/rural areas	254 (17.2)	110 (25.1)	364 (19.0)
Material deprivation index (n with missing value = 253)	1- Most privileged	240 (16.3)	56 (12.8)	296 (15.5)
	5- Most deprived	256 (17.3)	93 (21.2)	349 (18.2)
Conspiracy theories (n with missing value = 207)	Believer	447 (30.3)	209 (47.7)	656 (34.3)
Risk perception (I am worried about catching COVID-19) (Ref.: Disagree) (n with missing value = 50)	Agree	634 (43.0)	112 (25.6)	746 (39.0)

Table 2. Results of the logistic regression modeling the probability of being vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses at period 2 among respondents with no or low intention at period 1 (N = 1,914).

Variable	Categories	Odds ratio (CI 95%)	P-value
Risk perception (I am worried about catching COVID-19) (Ref.: Disagree)	Agree	2.12 (1.65–2.73)	<.0001
	Unknown	0.69 (0.38–1.31)	.2485
Adherence to conspiracy theories (Ref.: Believer)	Unbeliever	2.08 (1.65–2.64)	<.0001
	Unknown	2.47 (1.64–3.84)	<.0001
Age (Ref.: 18–34)	35–49	0.98 (0.74–1.31)	.9077
	50–64	1.25 (0.90–1.72)	.1783
	≥65	1.35 (0.90–2.03)	.1477
Student status (Ref.: Not at school)	At school	1.65 (1.12–2.48)	.0138
Education (Ref.: Highschool or less)	Community College	1.07 (0.81–1.40)	.6364
	University	1.10 (0.83–1.47)	.5009
Sex (Ref. : Male)	Female	1.12 (0.89–1.40)	.3480
Geographical area of residence (Ref.: Small towns/rural areas)	Other CMA	2.27 (1.58–3.28)	<.0001
	CMA of Montréal	1.66 (1.23–2.26)	.0010
	Cities of 10,000 to 100,000	1.82 (1.23–2.73)	.0033
	Unknown	0.91 (0.60–1.39)	.6583

Table 3. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents who were not hesitant at Pperiod 1 according to their hesitation level at Period 2 (N, %).

Variables	Categories	Period 2		Total (N = 11,117)
		Hesitant (n = 1,335)	Not hesitant (n = 9,782)
		N (%)	N (%)	N (%)
Gender	Male	451 (33.8)	4669 (47.7)	5120 (46.1)
	Female	884 (66.2)	5113 (52.3)	5997 (54.0)
Age	18–34	332 (24.9)	1318 (13.5)	1650 (14.8)
	35–49	307 (23.0)	1692 (17.3)	1999 (18.0)
	50–64	424 (31.8)	3088 (31.6)	3512 (31.6)
	≥65	272 (20.4)	3684 (37.7)	3956 (35.6)
Student status	In school	228 (17.1)	859 (8.8)	1087 (9.8)
Immigrant status	Not born in Canada	102 (7.7)	621 (6.4)	723 (6.5)
Household	Person living alone	314 (23.5)	2407 (24.6)	2721 (24.5)
	Presence of children	314 (23.5)	1497 (15.3)	1811 (16.3)
	No children	1021 (76.5)	8285 (84.7)	9306 (83.7)
Education	Highschool or less	318 (23.9)	2205 (22.6)	2523 (22.7)
	Community College	519 (39.0)	3171 (32.5)	3609 (32.5)
	University	494 (37.1)	4385 (44.9)	4879 (43.9)
Geographical area of residence (n with missing value = 507)	CMA of Montréal	563 (42.2)	4629 (47.3)	5129 (46.1)
	Other CMA	304 (22.8)	2116 (21.6)	2420 (21.8)
	Cities of 10,000 to 100,000	165 (12.4)	1161 (11.9)	1326 (11.9)
	Small towns/rural areas	216 (16.2)	1456 (14.9)	1672 (15.0)
Material deprivation index (n with missing value = 1107)	1- Most privileged	232 (17.4)	1979 (20.2)	2211 (19.9)
	5- Most deprived	200 (15)	1310 (13.4)	1510 (13.6)
Conspiracy theories	Believer	273 (20.5)	963 (9.8)	1236 (11.1)
Risk perception (I am worried about catching COVID-19) (Ref.: Disagree) (n with missing value = 155)	Agree	636 (47.6)	4916 (50.3)	5552 (49.9)

Table 4. Results of the logistic regression modeling the probability of becoming vaccine hesitant at Period 2 among respondents who were not vaccine-hesitant at Period 1 (N = 11,117).

Variable	Categories	Odds ratio (CI 95%)	P-value
Risk perception (I am worried about catching COVID-19) (Ref.: Disagree)	Agree	0.92 (0.82–1.04)	.2024
	Unknown	1.47 (0.94–2.23)	.0811
Adherence to conspiracy theories (Ref.: Unbeliever)	Believer	2.28 (1.95–2.66)	<.0001
Age (Ref.: ≥65)	18–34	2.82 (2.32–3.44)	<.0001
	35–49	2.39 (2.00–2.86)	<.0001
	50–64	1.82 (1.55–2.15)	<.0001
Student status (Ref.: Not at school)	At school	1.36 (1.13–1.63)	.0011
Education (Ref.: Highschool or less)	Community College	1.02 (0.87–1.19)	.8139
	University	0.74 (0.63–0.87)	.0002
Sex (Ref. : Male)	Female	1.67 (1.48–1.90)	<.0001
Geographical area of residence (Ref.: Small towns/rural areas)	Other CMA	0.95 (0.78–1.16)	.6155
	CMA of Montréal	0.81 (0.68–0.96)	.0156
	Cities of 10,000 to 100,000	0.98 (0.78–1.22)	.8379
	Unknown	1.21 (0.91–1.61)	.1821

Table

Concepts and items	Responses format	Analysis
Perceptions of risks associated with COVID-19
I consider myself to be at high risk of contracting COVID-19	‘Strongly Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Disagree,’ ‘Strongly Disagree,’ ‘I don’t know,’	A risk perception score was created with all items (see Methods Section). The score in three clusters was tested in univariate and multivariate analysis.
If I contract COVID-19, I will be placing my health at risk
I'm worried about the idea of contracting COVID-19
I’m worried about the idea of transmitting COVID-19 to people around me
I’m worried about the idea of losing someone I love due to COVID-19
Adherence to conspiracy theories
I think that many very important things happen in the world which the public is never informed about. I think that politicians usually do not tell us the true motives for their decisions. I think that government agencies closely monitor all citizens. I think that events which superficially seem to lack a connection are often the result of secret activities. I think that there are secret organizations that greatly influence political decisions.	10-point scale ranging from ‘Totally false’ to ’Totally true’ with a do not know option	A conspiracy theory score was created by grouping all the items into one (cut off > 70%). The score was tested in univariate and multivariate.
Attitudes and intention regarding COVID-19 vaccines
What is your level of agreement with the following statements? I intend to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 when it becomes available When the vaccine against COVID-19 becomes available, it should be mandatory for Quebecers to receive it	‘Strongly Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Disagree,’ ‘Strongly Disagree,’ ‘I don’t know’	Dependant variables Responses were dichotomized (Strongly Agree and Agree vs other response formats).
Vaccine hesitancy What is your level of agreement with the following statements? I don’t need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because there are very few cases in my community. When I think about vaccination against COVID-19, I consider the benefits and risks to make the best possible decision. If everyone gets vaccinated against COVID-19, I also don’t need to do so. Vaccines against COVID-19 are safe. The constraints of daily life might prevent me from getting vaccinated against COVID-19.	‘Completely Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Agree,’ ‘Somewhat Disagree,’ ‘Completely Disagree,’ ‘I don’t know’	A vaccine hesitancy score was created by grouping all the items into one (cut off > 60%). The score was tested in univariate and multivariate.