Mistrust in biomedical research and vaccine hesitancy: the forefront challenge in the battle against COVID-19 in Italy
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VACCINE HESITANCY
Mistrust in biomedical research and vaccine hesitancy: the forefront challenge in the battle against COVID‑19 in Italy Lorenzo Palamenghi1 · Serena Barello1 · Stefania Boccia2,3 · Guendalina Graffigna1 Received: 22 June 2020 / Accepted: 5 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Researchers have been working quickly and collaboratively for the development of vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. The effort of the scientific community in searching a vaccine for COVID-19 may be hampered by a diffused vaccine hesitancy. Two waves of data collection on representative samples of the Italian population (during the “first” and “second” phase of the Italian Covid-19 mitigation strategy) were conducted to understand citizens’ perceptions and behaviors about preventive behaviors willingness to vaccine for COVID-19. Our study shows that willingness to COVID-19 vaccine is correlated to trust in research and in vaccines, which decreased between phase 1 and phase 2 of the Italian pandemic. According to the results of our study, the proportion of citizens that seem to be intentioned to get the Covid-19 vaccine is probably too small to effectively stop the spreading of the disease. This requires to foster a climate of respectful mutual trust between science and society, where scientific knowledge is not only preached but also cultivated and sustained thanks to the emphatic understanding of citizens worries, needs of reassurance and health expectations. Keywords Covid-19 · Vaccine hesitancy · Trust in science · Vaccine effectiveness · Trust in vaccine
Introduction The spread of COVID-19 has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian and economic crisis [1]. Researchers have been working quickly and collaboratively for the development of vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. This global effort, however, might be hampered by vaccine hesitancy, which is a common phenomenon in western countries, with Italy being one of the countries with the highest rate of non-compliance to vaccination programs in Europe [2, 3]. The causes behind vaccine hesitancy are various and somehow unclear, as they include socio-demographic and psychological * Guendalina Graffigna [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, EngageMinds HUB – Consumer, Food and Health Engagement Research Center, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
2
Section of Hygiene, University Department of Health Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
3
Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Public Health Area, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
factors, such as public trust (or mistrust) towards healthcare professionals and health authorities [4]. Citizens’ trust in biomedical science is acknowledged as another relevant factor that might affect people’s attitudes towards vaccination; in a situation of great uncertainty (in daily life and in scientific advances) such as the one we are currently living, this could be magnified as peopl
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