Print Email Facebook Twitter “Please, you go first!” preferences for a COVID-19 vaccine among adults in the Netherlands Title “Please, you go first!” preferences for a COVID-19 vaccine among adults in the Netherlands Author Mouter, N. (TU Delft Transport and Logistics) de Ruijter, A.M. (TU Delft Transport and Logistics) Ardine de Wit, G. (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM); University Medical Center Utrecht) Lambooij, Mattijs S. (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM)) van Wijhe, Maarten van Exel, Job (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam) Kessels, Roselinde (Universiteit Maastricht; Universiteit Antwerpen) Date 2022 Abstract Background: Vaccination is generally considered the most direct way to restoring normal life after the outbreak of COVID-19, but the available COVID-19 vaccines are simultaneously embraced and dismissed. Mapping factors for vaccine hesitancy may help the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and provide valuable insights for future pandemics. Objectives: We investigate how characteristics of a COVID-19 vaccine affect the preferences of adult citizens in the Netherlands to take the vaccine directly, to refuse it outright, or to wait a few months and first look at the experiences of others. Methods: An online sample of 895 respondents participated between November 4th and November 10th, 2020 in a discrete choice experiment including the attributes: percentage of vaccinated individuals protected against COVID-19, month in which the vaccine would become available and the number of cases of mild and severe side effects. The data was analysed by means of panel mixed logit models. Results: Respondents found it important that a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine becomes available as soon as possible. However, the majority did not want to be the first in line and would rather wait for the experiences of others. The predicted uptake of a vaccine with the optimal combination of attributes was 87%, of whom 55% preferred to take the vaccine after a waiting period. This latter group tends to be lower-educated. Older respondents gave more weight to vaccine effectiveness than younger respondents. Conclusions: The willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine is high among adults in the Netherlands, but a considerable proportion prefers to delay their decision to vaccinate until experiences of others are known. Offering this wait-and-see group the opportunity to accept the invitation at a later moment may stimulate vaccination uptake. Our results further suggest that vaccination campaigns targeted at older citizens should focus on the effectiveness of the vaccine. Subject COVID-19Discrete choice experimentHealth policyPublic preferencesSARS-CoV-2Vaccination To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1a5ad793-9c23-4739-80c2-37a4d0a8bdc1 DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114626 ISSN 0277-9536 Source Social Science & Medicine, 292 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 N. Mouter, A.M. de Ruijter, G. Ardine de Wit, Mattijs S. Lambooij, Maarten van Wijhe, Job van Exel, Roselinde Kessels Files PDF 1_s2.0_S0277953621009588_main.pdf 1.22 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:1a5ad793-9c23-4739-80c2-37a4d0a8bdc1/datastream/OBJ/view