Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to measure the attitude and perception of university students regarding potential vaccine hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine and determine if identified hesitancy can be associated with influence factors such as contextual, individual/group, or vaccine/vaccination specific issues. Participants were asked to complete a 23 question self-reported survey that asked questions related to their perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the safety of the COIVD-19 vaccine. Respondents N= 11,548 consisted of students, faculty, administrative staff, and civil service employees of a mid-major university. Of the sent emails, 40 (.04) individuals opted out of the survey, 4,370 (44%) opened the survey; and of that group 151(3.5%) did not sufficiently complete; creating an N of 1,465 (34%) who completed the survey. ANOVA analyses were conducted yielding statistically significant differences among the subgroup's perception of "vaccine is threat to health", "right to decide" and "refuse to be vaccinated". Understanding the rationale of individuals who are vaccine hesitant will provide a better understanding to provide the needed information, tools, and activities to reduce individual hesitancy.
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