Vaccination Approval Literacy and Its Effects on Intention to Receive Future COVID-19 Immunization

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) defines vaccine hesitancy as the reluctance or refusal to receive a vaccine despite availability and identifies a lack of confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy as the major contributors. [7] In 2019, the WHO reported vaccine hesitancy as a top 10 threat to global health. [7] The WHO also states that vaccine hesitancy has been reported in over 90% of countries worldwide. [8] The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, led to an ongoing global pandemic following its emergence in December 2019. The resulting infections and deaths from COVID-19 increased the urgency to develop a vaccine to decrease continued disease spread. As of June 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued emergency use authorization for three COVID19 vaccines. However, individuals' willingness to accept vaccines falls along a spectrum. The available polls reported 50% of Americans are reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. [9] In the United States, 40% of those reluctant to vaccinate report being open to learning more information about vaccine safety. [2] Even before the global pandemic, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO worked to promote vaccine confidence as a way to significantly combat vaccine hesitancy. Building vaccine confidence involves establishing trust between 1) patients and providers making vaccine recommendations, 2) providers administering the vaccines, and 3) processes leading to vaccine development, manufacturing and approval. [1] A patient must have trust in all three elements to have full confidence in their decision to receive a vaccine. The CDC encourages healthcare providers to help patients build trust in vaccines with open conversations at the community level. As one of the most trusted and accessible healthcare professionals, pharmacists are well positioned to engage in vaccine-related discussions with their patients and correct misinformation in their communities. [6] Currently, there is little information regarding the general public's knowledge of the vaccine approval process and whether that plays a role in vaccine hesitancy. Overall, this study seeks to identify whether vaccine approval process literacy and vaccine confidence relates to vaccination intentions.