Einstellungen zu COVID-19-Impfungen und deren Begründungsmuster: eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse am Beispiel von Online-Diskussionsbeiträgen älterer Menschen

INTRODUCTION: Vaccination attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination and patterns of justification have been analyzed primarily through survey studies, while there is a lack of studies that provide deeper contextualization of individual responses. However, the latter are equally important to understand vaccination attitudes holistically. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study is to reveal not only vaccination attitudes but also the deeper reasoning behind them, using the example of the specific group that is considered particularly vulnerable in the context of the pandemic: older people. METHOD: The data basis comprises discussion contributions of an asynchronous online discussion thread of the platform “Seniorenportal”, where in 264 contributions 49 elderly people exchanged their views on both their vaccination attitudes and their experience of the pandemic situation in general. The analysis of the data was carried out using the qualitative method Ganzheitliche Bewältigung von Komplexität (GABEK®). RESULTS: With regard to vaccination attitudes, it is possible to identify vaccination supporters (clear, positive attitude towards vaccination), vaccination procrastinators (vaccination not yet/only under special conditions) and vaccination skeptics (clear position against currently approved COVID-19 vaccines, but not necessarily against vaccination in general). The analysis of justifications reveals that the concept of trust can hardly be found explicitly. Only a few vaccination supporters explicitly communicate a lack of trust in, for example, pandemic/vaccination management. In addition, the reasons behind the rejection of collective responsibility and different ways of interpreting pandemic-related information are revealed. DISCUSSION: The results indicate that attitudes and beliefs associated with the willingness to get vaccinated are much less clear than the results of current survey studies would suggest. Both current survey items as well as measures that are supposed to increase the willingness to get vaccinated, such as the promotion of trust, education through information provision or appeals to the sense of collective responsibility sometimes appear to warrant discussion. CONCLUSION: Qualitative studies can usefully complement the results of survey studies on vaccination attitudes. This study indicates that vaccination attitudes are also an expression of (biographically determined) basic attitudes and should also be considered in light of the relationship between the individual and society. In this context, the study provides starting points to complement current surveys, gives indications that the willingness to get vaccinated may be more difficult to influence than current knowledge of vaccination attitudes suggests, and offers suggestions for further research.