Vaccine hesitancy
Vaccine hesitancy is merely a concept that is formulated with interconnected relationships
between the social, biological, and natural world. The current research behind vaccine hesitancy
provides analysis on different factors affecting vaccine hesitancy like level of trust of vaccines,
level of trust in the health care system, age, education, presence of chronic diseases, etc.
However, a majority of the research fails to connect the social, biological, and natural world to
understand the concept at the individual level. The researchers AlSaeed and Rabbani created a
theory that vaccine hesitancy is influenced by various environmental and social factors, and does
not just formulate at the individual level.
The researchers predicted that vaccine hesitancy is dependent on the social, natural and
biological world that encompasses an individual. This is consistent with the definition of a theory
presented in class, as an individual’s environment and social factors can assume the patterns and
behaviors of an individual’s behavior, towards vaccination. We can not understand the entirety of
an individual’s environment, which impacts their health decisions, as we have not followed an
individual from birth to this pandemic. This leaves the theory to be conditional and incomplete,
yet it leaves room for the research to expand if a longitudinal cohort study was done. The
researchers see vaccine hesitancy as dependent on the individual’s social and environmental
conditions.
This led to the hypothesis that the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) can be used to predict
vaccine hesitancy in a region, while developing strategies to increase the utilization of vaccines
for SARS COV-2 (AlSaeed & Rabbani, 2021). Deriving from the theory that vaccine hesitancy is
influenced by various environmental and social factors, the hypothesis is true as the theory is
tested upon the hypothesis of the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). The theory that is related to the
hypothesis, which is that vaccine hesitancy is influenced by various environmental and social
factors, will be tested by studying the subject’s observation, interpretation, and modeling
behavior of others and their environment (Middleton et al., 2018). Hence using SCT, the
researchers can understand and predict an individual’s vaccine hesitancy and help develop
strategies to increase vaccinations. The study’s double helix of research and theory validates the
researchers' hypothesis.
To test this hypothesis, AlSaeed and Rabbani adopted Zetterberg’s third approach in
inductive reasoning by collapsing multiple variables into one (AlSaeed & Rabbani, 2021). In this
study, the researchers gathered multiple variables in the form of questions from Saudi Arabian
residents using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included sociodemographic questions like sex,
marital status, age, education. Questions surrounding COVID-19 awareness and perceived
susceptibility included: Could COVID-19 disease lead to death? Could the virus lead to
hospitalization? Can it be spread by close contact to infect people? Can it be prevented by
precautionary measures? More Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) based questions that surrounded
individual behavior habits included: Do you wash your hands frequently? Do you use sanitizer
frequently? Do you wear a mask in public places?
After questioning the social aspect of the individual’s lives, more questions surrounding
their environment were included in the survey as well. Environmental questions that included
observational learning included: Did any of your family members suffer from COVID-19? Have
you seen COVID-19 news coverage on television/radio? Newspapers? Social Media? From
friends and family? More questions on self-efficacy, observational learning, behavioral
capabilities, etc. were also included in the survey surrounding the Social Cognitive Theory
(SCT).
The organization and condensation of knowledge from the questionnaire collapsed into
one variable as it is mentioned in the discussion of the paper. The results revealed that “80% of
responses were concerned about vaccine side effects, 25% had a lack of trust concerning the
effectiveness, 33.1% rejected the vaccine due to social media, while another 45.2% expressed
disbelief about the vaccine. The other responses surrounded environmental factors.
“Nationality, history of getting COVID-19, if friends or family received the vaccine, and
reinforcement by governmental agencies were significant predictors” (AlSaeed & Rabbani,
2021). The variables of sociodemographic factors and observational learning within an
individual’s social and environmental world, were confirmed as the main reasons for vaccine
hesitancy, proving the theory and hypothesis to be true.
With theory and hypothesis, there is always room for expansion as it is incomplete. As
mentioned in the text, there are limitations mentioned in the study. The researchers were
surprised when noticing that governmental enforcement did not have a significant impact. It was
assumed that effective communicative strategies compared to strict enforcement helped with
vaccine acceptance. Bias was also mentioned in the text.
One third of participants showed vaccine hesitancy, with their views being rooted from social
and environmental factors. As adopted by the researchers, an individual's vaccine hesitancy is
dependent on their social and environmental factors. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) can be
assessed on a population to predict an individual’s and population’s vaccine hesitancy. This data
can help health services, professionals, and researchers develop more effective strategies to
decrease vaccine hesitancy, helping advance the future of science, disease, and medicine.
References
AlSaeed, A. A., & Rabbani, U. (2021). Explaining COVID-19 Vaccine Rejection Using Social
Cognitive Theory in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. V accines, 9(11), 1304.
https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9111304
Middleton, L., Hall, H., & Raeside, R. (2019). Applications and applicability of Social Cognitive
Theory in information science research. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science,
51(4), 927–937. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000618769985
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