Light at the end of the tunnel: Influence of vaccine availability and vaccination intention on people’s consideration of the COVID-19 vaccine

RATIONALE: Countries worldwide rely on the COVID-19 vaccine to contain the spread of the pandemic. However, because of the inequality in distribution, people in many demographic groups and regions still do not have access to a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. OBJECTIVE: To aid vaccine promotion campaigns that target populations with different access to the COVID-19 vaccine, this study examined how vaccine availability and vaccination intention influence people's consideration of the COVID-19 vaccine. METHOD: We conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey and choice-based conjoint experiment to examine the influence of vaccine availability and vaccination intention on perceived barriers of vaccination (e.g., safety and cost concern) and preference in different vaccine features (e.g., FDA approval status and number of doses administered). RESULT: We found that low availability and intention increased attention to global behavioral barriers such as safety concern and high-level vaccine attributes such as efficacy. In contrast, high availability articulates practical considerations such as cost and logistics associated with vaccination. CONCLUSION: Based on such findings, we conclude that health communicators need to strategically customize their messages based on audience access to the COVID-19 vaccine and their intention to get vaccinated. Highlighting the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine may be more effective in low-accessibility and low-intention groups, while emphasis on practical considerations such as vaccine cost and logistics may be more effective in high-accessibility and high-intention groups.