Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Its Influencing Factors

Principal Investigator (PI): Professor Dr Wong Li Ping

Summary of the Project:

To understand the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination in the Malaysian population, several studies incorporated online surveys were conducted across different groups including the general public, the elderly, the Muslim community, and parents.  In a study conducted among 2175 Malaysian adults aged 18 years old and above, 89.5% expressed willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. Participants with higher education levels and who never delayed acceptance or refused any available vaccine expressed a higher willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. Participants with a preference for COVID-19 vaccine characteristics as a single dose vaccine, a non-mRNA vaccine and offers duration of protection more than 12 months expressed higher willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. A study conducted among 1856 Malaysian Muslims aged 18 years old and above showed acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine is high (57.3%) among the Muslims in Malaysia. Important predictors of a definite intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine include positive COVID-19 immunization attitudes and support for immunization. A study conducted among 754 Malaysian adults aged 60 years and above indicated that older people had positive support for COVID-19 vaccination with 87.1% intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Participants below 70 years old, having a positive vaccination attitude and hearing of someone they know who has COVID-19 expressed higher vaccination intention. 

A study conducted among 1010 Malaysian adults aged 18 years old and above reported that despite a generally high willingness to receive a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a small percentage of reported hesitating or refusing the booster dose may likely pose a threat to effective prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. The determinants of hesitation in individual intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster include experience of side effects in the past COVID-19 vaccination, pandemic fatigue and fear of side effects of the booster vaccination, as well as the uncertain long-term safety of multiple COVID-19 vaccinations. In a study conducted among Malaysian parents or guardians of children between ages 5 and below 12 years old, a total of 15.7% reported being extremely willing, and 38.9% were somewhat willing to vaccinate children with a COVID-19 vaccine. Parents who perceived low susceptibility to COVID-19 infection in their children showed lower vaccine acceptance while parents with a lower level of concern have a higher willingness for vaccination.

Status of the Project: Completed

Duration:

Start date - April 2020

1st vaccine (Muslim): 29 April 2020 – 10 May 2020
1st vaccine (Elderly): 14 July 2020 and October 2020
1st vaccine (General population): 4 January 2021 to 6 March 2021
Booster:  22 Nov 2021- 9 February 2022
Child: 20 March 2022 to 23 July 2022

Completion date - July 2022

Outcomes of the Project:

Publications

1. Wong LP, Alias H, Megat Hashim MMAA, Lee HY, Abu Bakar S, Chung I, Hu Z, Lin Y. Acceptability for COVID-19 vaccination: perspectives from Muslims. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2022 Nov 30;18(5):2045855. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2045855. Epub 2022 Apr 19. PMID: 35439106; PMCID: PMC9196781.
2. Wong LP, Alias H, Tan YR, Tan KM. Older people and responses to COVID-19: A cross-sectional study of prevention practices and vaccination intention. Int J Older People Nurs. 2022 May;17(3):e12436. doi: 10.1111/opn.12436. 
3. Wong LP, Alias H, Danaee M, Ahmed J, Lachyan A, Cai CZ, Lin Y, Hu Z, Tan SY, Lu Y, Cai G, Nguyen DK, Seheli FN, Alhammadi F, Madhale MD, Atapattu M, Quazi-Bodhanya T, Mohajer S, Zimet GD, Zhao Q. COVID-19 vaccination intention and vaccine characteristics influencing vaccination acceptance: a global survey of 17 countries. Infect Dis Poverty. 2021 Oct 7;10(1):122. doi: 10.1186/s40249-021-00900-w. 
4. Wong LP, Alias H, Siaw YL, Muslimin M, Lai LL, Lin Y, Hu Z. Intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose and associated factors in Malaysia. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2022 Nov 30;18(5):2078634. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2078634. 
5. Wong LP, Lee HY, Alias H, Abu Bakar S. Malaysian Parents' Willingness to Vaccinate Their Children against COVID-19 Infection and Their Perception of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Oct 25;10(11):1790. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10111790.