The road to achieving herd immunity: factors associated with Singapore residents’ uptake and hesitancy of the COVID-19 vaccination

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Achieving high vaccination rates is key to containing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study evaluated the factors associated with uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. METHODS: Six hundred and seventy-six respondents were surveyed online between May and June 2021. Data on demographics, perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine willingness and hesitancy factors were collected. RESULTS: Approximately 54.6% of the respondents had received the COVID-19 vaccination. Age (p = 0.001), males (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6, p = 0.026), ethnicity (p = 0.004), occupation (p = 0.003)), working in healthcare (OR 6.1, 95% CI 2.8-13.2, p < 0.001), smoking (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-8.8, p = 0.014), seeing vaccination as a social responsibility (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.2-12.0, p = 0.022) and believing the vaccine is important to end the COVID-19 pandemic (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-6.1, p = 0.020) were associated with greater vaccination uptake. CONCLUSION: Social responsibility and well-being of collective society are important values associated with vaccine uptake in an Asian society. Understanding factors behind vaccine uptake can help advise public health measures and strategies to achieve high levels of vaccination.