Antonini, Marcello 
ORCID: 0000-0001-5816-2289, Genie, Mesfin G., Attwell, Katie, Attema, Arthur E., Ward, Jeremy K., Melegaro, Alessia, Torbica, Aleksandra, Kelly, Brian, Berardi, Chiara ORCID: 0000-0002-0686-6580, Sequeira, Ana Rita, McGregor, Neil, Kellner, Adrian, Brammli-Greenberg, Shuli, Hinwood, Madeleine, Murauskienė, Liubovė, Behmane, Daiga, Balogh, Zsolt J., Hagen, Terje P. and Paolucci, Francesco
(2025)
Are we ready for the next pandemic? Public preferences and trade-offs between vaccine characteristics and societal restrictions across 21 countries.
Social Science & Medicine.
p. 117687.
ISSN 0277-9536
(In Press)
Abstract
In vaccination decisions, individuals must weigh the benefits against the risks of remaining unvaccinated and potentially facing social restrictions. Previous studies have focused on individual preferences for vaccine characteristics and societal restrictions separately. This study aims to quantify public preferences and the potential trade-offs between vaccine characteristics and societal restrictions, including lockdowns and vaccine mandates, in the event of a future pandemic. We conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) involving 47,114 respondents from 21 countries between July 2022 and June 2023 through an online panel. Participants were presented with choices between two hypothetical vaccination programs and an option to opt out. A latent class logit model was used to estimate trade-offs among attributes. Despite some level of preference heterogeneity across countries and respondents’ profiles, we consistently identified three classes of respondents: vaccine refusers, vaccine-hesitant, and pro-vaccine individuals. Vaccine attributes were generally deemed more important than societal restriction attributes. We detected strong preferences for highest levels of vaccine effectiveness and domestically produced vaccines across most countries. Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 was the strongest predictor of pro-vaccine class preferences. Women and younger people were more likely to be vaccine refusers compared to men and older individuals. Lower socioeconomic status was associated with vaccine hesitancy and refusal in some countries, while higher-educated and wealthier individuals were more likely to exhibit hesitancy in others. Our findings emphasize the need for tailored vaccination programs that consider local contexts and demographics. Building trust in national regulatory authorities and international organizations through targeted communication, along with investing in domestic production facilities, can improve vaccine uptake and enhance public health responses in the future.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s) |
| Divisions: | Health Policy |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2025 10:03 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jan 2025 10:06 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126908 |
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