How People in Eight European Countries Felt About the Safety, Effectiveness, and Necessity of COVID-19 Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Overview

Journal Healthcare (Basel)

Specialty Health Services

Date 2025 Feb 13

PMID 39942533

Authors

Kristien Coteur

Marija Zafirovska

Aleksandar Zafirovski

Jelena Danilenko

Heidrun Lingner

Felix Bauch

Christine Brutting

Nicola Buono

Vanja Lazic

Liljana Ramasaco

Vija Silina

Lara-Marie Fuehner

Michael Harris

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination vary globally, influenced by political and cultural factors. This research aimed to assess the views of people without a healthcare qualification in Europe on COVID-19 vaccination safety, effectiveness, and necessity as well as how well informed they felt. The secondary outcomes focused on how respondents' views were affected by demographic and context factors and included a comparison by country of the level of feeling well informed. A mixed-method cross-sectional online survey in eight European countries, using convenience sampling. : A total of 1008 adults completed the survey, 60% of whom were female. While only 44.1% considered the vaccines safe, 43.5% effective, and 44.9% necessary, 80.0% had been vaccinated. Four in ten adults strongly agreed that they were well informed, while over a quarter did not answer the question. Younger respondents, well-informed individuals, and German respondents were more inclined to perceive COVID-19 vaccination as both effective and necessary. : Motivations for vaccination included perceived health and social benefits, while concerns included a preference for "natural immunity", the rapid development of the vaccine, and potential unknown long-term effects. A correlation existed between respondents feeling well informed about the different COVID-19 vaccines in their country and the likelihood of having been vaccinated.

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