Vaccine hesitancy in Hong Kong
providing a more reliable view of vaccination among the elderly. The questionnaire was written in Traditional Chinese as it is the main language used in Hong Kong. An English translation version is attached in the Annex for illustration.
Data collection
Background information, such as age and gender were asked. Though a range of ages from under 20 to over 90 were given as options, only respondents aged above 60 were included in the study. Participants were asked about their state of vaccination. Respondents not yet vaccinated were asked whether they were going to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Respondents who answered ‘ Yes, I will get a COVID-19 jab in the next three months ’ were categoriz ed as ‘acceptant’ to COVID -19 vaccine. Respondents who answered ‘ Wait-and-see ’ were put into the group ‘hesitant’ to the vaccine ; those who would receive a COVID-19 vaccine were considered ‘resistant’ to the vaccine.
The health belief model (HBM), one of the most reliable and popular models to evaluate disease prevention measures, was adopted (with a few additions).
A total of 19 questions were asked to assess 7 different groups of factors affecting the likelihood of vaccination: (1) perceived susceptibility or complacency ; (2) perceived barrier or side effects of the vaccine ; (3) perceived benefits of the vaccine ; (4) cue to action refers to the stimulus triggering the decision of being vaccinated, including a variety of social factors. While HBM is more descriptive than explanatory (LaMorte, 2019), it fails to consider some individual factors. As a result, the use of other models with different sets of factors can produce a more holistic and explanatory result. In this study, 3C (E.MacDonald, 2015) and 5C models (Cornelia Betsch, 2018) were also used to determine the factors to ask because both of these models were developed specifically for research on vaccine hesitancy. Factors include (5) convenience (such as accessibility, waiting time and proximity) as well as (6) knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine and (7) collective responsibility. Furthermore, since vaccine hesitancy is still a major global health problem and will remain unsolved in the foreseeable future, it is important to investigate ways to facilitate vaccination and tackle vaccine hesitancy. Therefore, respondents were asked ‘i f they think there are any measures taken by the government to increase vaccination’, ‘if they will be more likely to be vaccinated when a healthcare professional suggest them to do so’, or ‘supported by their family’.
Statistical analysis
All results are input into Microsoft Excel. All the answers to a question are assigned with a number for easier input process and lucid presentation. After all data are typed in Microsoft Excel to create the raw data table, Pivot Tables are produced. Pivot Table is a function encoded in Microsoft Excel so that each component, or in this case, factor of vaccine hesitancy, can be isolated and displayed against another component or factor. This enables us to see how people who had the vaccine think of the effectiveness of it. By acquiring a fairly large sample size, a difference in pattern between two groups can be spotted and thus correlations between vaccination state and multiple factors, including side effects, can be deduced. Diagrams are used for graphic presentation. In this study, bivariate analysis (Pearson Chi Square Tests) was performed at a free Chi Square Calculator for 2x2 on the website, Social Science
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