Table 4.
Cross-tabulation of reasons for vaccine hesitancy with demographic and health status variables.
| Variable | I Don’t Think COVID-19 Exists | I Think the Vaccine Is Not Effective | I Think the Vaccine Is Designed to Harm Us | I Am Scared of Side-Effects of the Vaccine | My Body Is Naturally Strong, I Don’t Need a Vaccine to Fight COVID-19 | I Already Had COVID-19, so I Think I Am Immune to the Disease | The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Finished in My Country, No Need for a Vaccine Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 132 (3.1) | 918 (21.5) | 409 (9.6) | 2005 (47.1) | 394 (9.2) | 120 (2.8) | 830 (1.9) |
| Female | 203 (3.4) | 1054 (17.8) | 343 (5.8) | 2978 (52.9) | 318 (5.4) | 118 (2.0) | 64 (1.1) |
| χ2, p-value | 0.85, p = 0.357 | 22.3, p < 0.001 | 52.5, p < 0.001 | 10.4, p = 0.001 | 52.3, p < 0.001 | 7.4, p = 0.007 | 13.1, p < 0.001 |
| Age, years | |||||||
| 18–29 | 108 (3.4) | 651 (20.3) | 332 (10.4) | 1816 (56.6) | 299 (9.3) | 91 (2.8) | 57 (1.8) |
| 30–39 | 67 (2.5) | 571 (21.1) | 201 (7.4) | 1462 (54.0) | 216 (8.0) | 94 (3.5) | 37 (1.4) |
| 40–49 | 76 (4.7) | 348 (21.5) | 122 (7.5) | 700 (43.2) | 112 (6.9) | 33 (2.0) | 41 (2.5) |
| 50–59 | 75 (5.0) | 295 (19.8) | 63 (4.2) | 634 (42.5) | 59 (4.0) | 10 (0.7) | 8 (0.5) |
| 60 and above | 11 (0.9) | 107 (9.2) | 34 (2.9) | 371 (32.0) | 27 (2.3) | 10 (0.9) | 3 (0.3) |
| χ2, p-value | 49.5, p < 0.001 | 87.8, p < 0.001 | 96.7, p < 0.001 | 281.9, p < 0.001 | 90.6, p < 0.001 | 48.6, p < 0.001 | 36.4, p < 0.001 |
| Highest education level attained | |||||||
| Primary/Secondary | 77 (7.1) | 173 (16.0) | 61 (5.6) | 543 (50.1) | 37 (3.4) | 13 (1.2) | 8 (0.7) |
| Completed undergraduate degree | 195 (4.2) | 1043 (22.3) | 453 (9.7) | 2546 (54.5) | 469 (10.0) | 150 (3.2) | 98 (2.1) |
| Completed postgraduate degree | 63 (1.4) | 756 (17.1) | 238 (5.4) | 1895 (42.8) | 205 (4.6) | 75 (1.7) | 41 (0.9) |
| χ2, p-value | 109.7, p < 0.001 | 49.6, p < 0.001 | 67.8, p < 0.001 | 126.3, p < 0.001 | 126.6, p < 0.001 | 29.9, p < 0.001 | 26.3, p < 0.001 |
| Socioeconomic category | |||||||
| Low | 88 (11.1) | 200 (25.2) | 92 (11.6) | 415 (52.3) | 72 (9.1) | 5 (0.6) | 21 (2.6) |
| Lower middle | 192 (4.0) | 1057 (22.3) | 460 (9.7) | 2497 (52.6) | 340 (7.2) | 95 (2.0) | 64 (1.3) |
| Upper middle | 45 (1.1) | 664 (15.7) | 174 (4.1) | 1947 (46.0) | 273 (6.4) | 121 (2.9) | 45 (1.1) |
| High | 11 (2.7) | 51 (12.5) | 26 (6.4) | 125 (30.6) | 28 (6.9) | 16 (3.9) | 17 (4.2) |
| χ2, p-value | 226.4, p < 0.001 | 92.6, p < 0.001 | 125.0, p < 0.001 | 99.3, p < 0.001 | 7.5, p = 0.057 | 22.0, p < 0.001 | 34.0, p < 0.001 |
| Residential setting | |||||||
| Rural | 137 (17.3) | 243 (30.7) | 60 (7.6) | 419 (53.0) | 76 (9.6) | 5 (0.6) | 11 (1.4) |
| Suburban/Slum | 45 (3.4) | 264 (20.1) | 124 (9.5) | 656 (50.0) | 138 (10.5) | 38 (2.9) | 19 (1.4) |
| Urban | 154 (1.9) | 1466 (18.1) | 569 (7.0) | 3908 (48.4) | 498 (6.2) | 194 (2.4) | 116 (1.4) |
| χ2, p-value | 537.5, p < 0.001 | 73.6, p < 0.001 | 9.7, p = 0.008 | 7.0, p = 0.030 | 42.2, p < 0.001 | 12.1, p = 0.002 | 0.01, p = 0.994 |
| Student or worker in the health sector | |||||||
| Yes | 192 (4.0) | 1017 (21.0) | 374 (7.7) | 2492 (51.4) | 378 (7.8) | 136 (2.8) | 85 (1.8) |
| No | 143 (2.7) | 956 (17.9) | 378 (7.1) | 2491 (46.7) | 334 (6.3) | 102 (1.9) | 62 (1.2) |
| χ2, p-value | 13.1, p < 0.001 | 15.3, p < 0.001 | 1.5, p = 0.223 | 22.7, p < 0.001 | 9.3, p = 0.002 | 8.9, p = 0.003 | 6.3, p = 0.012 |
| COVID-19 testing/Infection status | |||||||
| Not tested/Does not know test results | 292 (4.7) | 1392 (22.3) | 524 (8.4) | 3166 (50.6) | 486 (4.8) | 64 (1.1) | 85 (1.4) |
| Tested, but negative | 37 (1.2) | 475 (15.6) | 181 (5.9) | 1371 (45.0) | 142 (4.7) | 41 (1.3) | 21 (0.7) |
| Tested, but positive | 6 (0.4) | 105 (12.0) | 47 (5.3) | 446 (50.8) | 85 (9.7) | 134 (15.2) | 41 (4.7) |
| χ2, p-value | 97.4, p < 0.001 | 92.3, p < 0.001 | 24.0, p < 0.001 | 27.4, p < 0.001 | 41.1, p < 0.001 | 699.3, p < 0.001 | 76.8, p < 0.001 |
| Presence of chronic disease(s) | |||||||
| Yes | 59 (2.4) | 452 (18.5) | 126 (5.1) | 1099 (44.9) | 116 (4.7) | 76 (3.1) | 38 (1.6) |
| No | 276 (3.6) | 1520 (19.7) | 627 (8.1) | 3885 (50.2) | 597 (7.7) | 162 (2.1) | 109 (1.4) |
| χ2, p-value | 7.8, p = 0.005 | 1.7, p = 0.198 | 23.8, p < 0.001 | 21.2, p < 0.001 | 25.3, p < 0.001 | 8.3, p = 0.004 | 0.268, p = 0.605 |
| Depression symptoms (PHQ-2 score ≥3) | |||||||
| Yes | 24 (1.2) | 268 (13.6) | 92 (4.7) | 952 (48.2) | 132 (6.7) | 93 (4.7) | 35 (1.8) |
| No | 311 (3.8) | 17.4 (20.8) | 661 (8.1) | 4032 (49.1) | 580 (7.1) | 145 (1.8) | 112 (1.4) |
| χ2, p-value | 33.1, p < 0.001 | 52.6, p < 0.001 | 26.7, p < 0.001 | 0.5, p = 0.481 | 0.4, p = 0.554 | 60.5, p < 0.001 | 1.9, p = 0.171 |
| Anxiety symptoms (GAD-2 score ≥3) | |||||||
| Yes | 20 (1.1) | 238 (12.8) | 90 (4.8) | 832 (44.8) | 104 (5.6) | 83 (4.5) | 47 (2.5) |
| No | 316 (3.8) | 1735 (20.8) | 663 (8.0) | 4151 (49.9) | 608 (7.3) | 115 (1.9) | 100 (1.2) |
| χ2, p-value | 35.2, p < 0.001 | 62.5, p < 0.001 | 21.5, p < 0.001 | 15.5, p < 0.001 | 6.8, p = 0.009 | 45.2, p < 0.001 | 18.9, p < 0.001 |
Note: Frequency (n) and percentage (%) are based on “yes” responses to the questions on reasons for vaccine hesitancy.