scholarly journals Who Got Vaccinated for COVID-19? Evidence from Japan

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1505
Author(s):  
Toshihiro Okubo ◽  
Atsushi Inoue ◽  
Kozue Sekijima

Vaccination has been critical to reducing infections and deaths during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While previous studies have investigated attitudes toward taking a vaccine, studies on the determinants of COVID-19 vaccination behavior are scant. We examine what characteristics, including socioeconomic and non-economic factors, are associated with vaccination behavior for COVID-19 in Japan. We use a large nationwide online survey with approximately 10,000 participants. As of September 2021, 85% of the respondents said that they had received or would receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Employing logistic regression analysis on vaccination behavior, we found that vaccination rates are higher among those who are older, married, educated, and/or work in a large company. On the other hand, vaccination rates tend to be lower among the self-employed, younger women, and those with poor mental health. Income did not significantly correlate with vaccination. Medical workers were found to have a relatively high rate of vaccination. Although attitude towards risk and time preference were not crucial factors for vaccination, fear of infection, infection prevention behavior, and agreement with government policies on behavioral restrictions in crisis situations positively correlated with vaccination.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Beate Muschalla ◽  
Clio Vollborn ◽  
Anke Sondhof

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Embitterment can occur as a reaction to perceived injustice. During the pandemic and restrictions in daily living due to infection risk management, a range of many smaller or severe injustices have occurred. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study is to investigate what characterizes persons with high embitterment, mental illness, embitterment and mental illness, and those without embitterment or mental health problems. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We conducted an online survey including persons from the general population in November 2020 and December 2020, the phase during which a second lockdown took place, with closed shops, restaurants, cultural and activity sites. 3,208 participants (mean age 47 years) gave self-ratings on their present well-being, burdens experienced during the pandemic, embitterment, wisdom, and resilience. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Embitterment occurred among 16% of the sample, which is a high rate in comparison with 4% during pre-pandemic times. Embitterment was weakly correlated with unspecific mental well-being. There were more persons with embitterment than those with embitterment and a mental health problem. Persons with embitterment reported less coronavirus-related anxiety than persons without embitterment. However, embittered persons reported more social and economic burdens and more frequent experiences of losses (job loss and canceling of medical treatments). Embittered persons perceive their own wisdom competencies on a similar level as persons with mental health problems or persons without mental health problems. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Embitterment is a specific potentially alone-standing affective state, which is distinguishable from general mental health and coping capacities (here: wisdom). The economic and social consequences of pandemic management should be carefully recognized and prevented by policy.


Author(s):  
Shusaku Sasaki ◽  
Hirofumi Kurokawa ◽  
Fumio Ohtake

AbstractNudge-based messages have been employed in various countries to encourage voluntary contact-avoidance and infection-prevention behaviors to control the spread of COVID-19. People have been repeatedly exposed to such messages; however, whether the messages keep exerting a significant impact over time remains unclear. From April to August 2020, we conducted a four-wave online survey experiment to examine how five types of nudge-based messages influence Japanese people’s self-reported preventive behaviors. In particular, we investigate how their behaviors are affected by repeated displays over time. The analysis with 4241 participants finds that only a gain-framed altruistic message, emphasizing their behavioral adherence would protect the lives of people close to them, reduces their frequency of going out and contacting others. We do not find similar behavioral changes in messages that contain an altruistic element but emphasize it in a loss-frame or describe their behavioral adherence as protecting both one’s own and others’ lives. Furthermore, the behavioral change effect of the gain-framed altruistic message disappears in the third and fourth waves, although its impact of reinforcing intentions remains. This message has even an adverse effect of worsening the compliance level of infection-prevention behaviors for the subgroup who went out less frequently before the experiment. The study’s results imply that when using nudge-based messages as a countermeasure for COVID-19, policymakers and practitioners need to carefully scrutinize the message elements and wording and examine to whom and how the messages should be delivered while considering their potential adverse and side effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 652-660
Author(s):  
Gennadiy G. Onischenko ◽  
Tatiana E. Sizikova ◽  
Vitaliy N. Lebedev ◽  
Sergey V. Borisevich

The most effective means of combating the COVID-19 pandemic s the formation of herd immunity, with the formation of an immune population to infection. Vaccination rates are continuously increasing. In early February 2021, WHO announced that the number of people vaccinated against the disease for the first time exceeded the number of infected. In early June 2021 the vaccinated number exceeded 2 billion which is more than 12 times the total number infected for the entire duration of the pandemic. The high rate of vaccination leads to the formulation of a number of questions concerning the effectiveness of vaccines currently used for mass immunization the level of herd immunity, necessary to stop the spread of the disease, the actual duration of the vaccination carried out, long-term prospects of the platforms, used in the creation of vaccines. The purpose of this paper is to substantiate reasoned answers to the questions posed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-341
Author(s):  
Sihui Peng ◽  
Xiaozhao Yousef Yang ◽  
Tingzhong Yang ◽  
Weifang Zhang ◽  
Randall R. Cottrell

Objectives: We examined changing trends of uncertainty stress, and its impact on disease fear and prevention behaviors during the Chinese COVID-19 epidemic, using a prospective observational study. Methods: We employed a longitudinal design. We recruited participants for an online panel survey from chat groups on social media platforms. There were 5 waves of interviews. Information on uncertainty stress and related variables were collected via the online survey. Descriptive statistics and the GIM program were used for data analysis. Results: Participants numbered 150 for the linkable baseline survey and 102 (68%) for the final survey. Uncertainty stress (β = -.047, SE = .118, p > .05) did not show a statistically significant temporal change trend over the observation period. Disease fear manifested a statistically significant downwards trend (β = -.342, SE = .157, p < .05), and prevention behaviors indicated an upwards trend (β = .048, SE = .021, p < .05) during the observation period. Uncertainty stress was positively associated with disease fear (β = .45046, SE = .05964, p < .001), and negatively associated with self-efficacy (β = -.6698, SE = .01035, p < .001), and prevention behaviors (β = -.02029, SE = .00876, p =.021). Conclusion: This study yielded new information about uncertainty stress among Chinese people during the COVID-19 epidemic. Policy changes and public education are essential for minimizing the negative effects of uncertainty stress in disease prevention.


Author(s):  
Eugene Song ◽  
Hyun Jung Yoo

Public health has been under continuous threat worldwide in recent years. This study examined the impact of social support and social trust on the activities and efficacy of the public’s risk response in the case of COVID-19. We conducted an online survey over eight days with 620 Korean adult participants. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling and K-means cluster analysis. Our results showed that public support had a positive impact on response efficacy, while response efficacy had a positive impact on sanitation, distancing, and purchasing activities. In addition, social support positively moderated the impact of public and individual support on response efficacy, while response efficacy negatively moderated the impact on sanitation activities. These results suggest that, first, amid viral risk, governments should proactively supply tools and information for infection-prevention, and deliver messages that encourage and support infection-prevention activities among the public. Second, when viral risk occurs, governments, along with all other members of society, must engage in aggressive risk response measures. Third, there is a need for risk communication that further emphasizes the importance of personal sanitation activities in the face of viral risk.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 155798832095754
Author(s):  
Rob Stephenson ◽  
Tanaka M. D. Chavanduka ◽  
Matthew T. Rosso ◽  
Stephen P. Sullivan ◽  
Renée A. Pitter ◽  
...  

While there is evidence of variations in the risk perceptions of COVID-19 and that they are linked to both engagement in health-protective behaviors and poor mental health outcomes, there has been a lack of attention to how individuals perceive the risk of COVID-19 relative to other infectious diseases. This paper examines the relative perceptions of the severity of COVID-19 and HIV among a sample of U.S. gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSMs). The “Love and Sex in the Time of COVID-19” survey was conducted online from April 2020 to May 2020. GBMSMs were recruited through paid banner advertisements featured on social networking platforms, resulting in a sample size of 696. The analysis considers differences in responses to two scales: the Perceived Severity of HIV Infection and the Perceived Severity of COVID-19 Infection. Participants perceived greater seriousness for HIV infection (mean 46.67, range 17–65) than for COVID-19 infection (mean 38.81, range 13–62). Some items reflecting more proximal impacts of infection (anxiety, loss of sleep, and impact on employment) were similar for HIV and COVID-19. Those aged over 25 and those who perceived higher prevalence of COVID-19 in the United States or their state were more likely to report COVID-19 as more severe than HIV. There is a need to develop nuanced public health messages for GBMSMs that convey the ongoing simultaneous health threats of both HIV and COVID-19.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Savelli ◽  
Susan Joslyn

Abstract Recreational boaters in the Pacific Northwest understand that there is uncertainty inherent in deterministic forecasts as well as some of the factors that increase uncertainty. This was determined in an online survey of 166 boaters in the Puget Sound area. Understanding was probed using questions that asked respondents what they expected to observe when given a deterministic forecast with a specified lead time, for a particular weather parameter, during a particular time of year. It was also probed by asking respondents to estimate the number of observations, out of 100 or out of 10, that they expected to fall within specified ranges around the deterministic forecast. Almost all respondents anticipated some uncertainty in the deterministic forecast as well as specific biases, most of which were born out by an analysis of local National Weather Service verification data. Interestingly, uncertainty and biases were anticipated for categorical forecasts indicating a range of values as well, suggesting that specifying numeric uncertainty would improve understanding. Furthermore, respondents’ answers suggested that they expected a high rate of false alarms among warning and advisory forecasts. Nonetheless, boaters indicated that they would take precautionary action in response to such warnings, in proportions related to the size of boat they were operating. This suggests that uncertainty forecasts would be useful to these experienced forecast consumers, allowing them to adapt the forecast to their specific boating situation with greater confidence.


2020 ◽  
pp. 084456212096189
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Stelnicki ◽  
R. Nicholas Carleton

Background Nurses face regular exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events as part of their occupational responsibilities. Cumulative stress due to repeated exposure to such events is associated with poor mental health and an increased risk of developing clinically significant symptoms consistent with some mental disorders. Purpose The current study was designed to estimate rates of mental disorder symptoms among nurses in Canada and identify demographic characteristics that are associated with increased risk for mental disorder symptoms. Method An online survey was conducted with Canadian nurses in both English and French. Participants were recruited largely through the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) member unions, non-CFNU member unions, and social media. The survey assessed current mental disorder symptoms using well-validated screening measures. Results A total of 4267 participants (93.8% women) completed the survey. Almost half of participants screened positive for a mental disorder (i.e., 47.9%). No gender differences emerged. Significant differences in proportions of positive screens based on each measure were found across demographic groups (e.g., age, province of residence, type of nurse). Conclusions The rate of positive screens appears much higher than mental disorder prevalence rates in the general Canadian population, but there were important methodological differences. The current results provide potentially important information to support researchers and healthcare administrators to investigate possible ways to mitigate and manage mental health in nursing workplaces.


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