Spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on attitudes to influenza and childhood vaccines

Anna Soveri, Linda C Karlsson, Jan Antfolk, Otto Mäki, Linnea Karlsson, Hasse Karlsson, Saara Nolvi, Max Karukivi, Mikael Lindfelt, Stephan Lewandowsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
39 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The current study sought to determine whether public perceptions of other vaccines and diseases than COVID-19 have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We longitudinally examined whether there had been a change from before the COVID-19 pandemic to during the pandemic in: (a) influenza vaccination behaviour and intentions; (b) the perceived benefit of childhood vaccines and influenza vaccines; (c) the perceived safety of childhood vaccines and influenza vaccines; (d) the perceived severity of measles and influenza; and (e) trust in healthcare professionals in two samples of Finnish adults (N = 205 in Study 1 and N = 197 in Study 2). The findings showed that during the pandemic, more people than before had received or wanted to receive the influenza vaccine. The respondents also believed that influenza was more dangerous during the pandemic and that vaccinations were safer and more beneficial. On the other hand, for childhood vaccines only perceived safety increased. Finally, in one of the studies, people had more confidence in medical professionals during the pandemic than they had before. Together, these findings imply a spillover of the COVID-19 pandemic on how people view other vaccines and illnesses.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)764
JournalBMC Public Health
Volume23
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Apr 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Humans
  • Influenza Vaccines
  • Influenza, Human/epidemiology
  • Pandemics/prevention & control
  • COVID-19/epidemiology
  • Vaccination
  • Attitude

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